


The Omega

by Rulerofyouall



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Abortion, Alexandria Safe-Zone (Walking Dead), Alpha Abraham Ford, Alpha Carl Grimes, Alpha Daryl Dixon, Alpha Michonne (Walking Dead), Alpha Shane Walsh, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Discussion of Abortion, Flashbacks, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Mentioned Characters, Miscarriage, Mpreg, No Negan (Walking Dead), Omega Rick Grimes, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape/Non-con Elements, Trauma, some plot changes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 27,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22413592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rulerofyouall/pseuds/Rulerofyouall
Summary: The group has accepted Rick as the leader of the pack regardless of his status as an omega. Individuals on the outside disagree, but the pack would do anything to protect their omega. But something is wrong with Rick's heats, and there are consequences.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes
Comments: 78
Kudos: 154





	1. An Abnormality

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing!
> 
> NOTE: I am probably going to be messing with the storyline in this fic

Rick knew what was about to happen the instant he felt heat down in his abdomen. It didn't make sense, him going into heat once more, but he supposed it was due to stress. Everything had been going wrong recently: the prison, the Claimers, Terminus, Grady. People in his pack were suffering, and as their leader, he knew it was his fault.

Most people wouldn't guess that he was the leader of the pack on first glance. He was the only omega in the group. Most packs were run by an alpha, but they had accepted him as their leader.

Rick did his best to cover his scent glands, but he knew that that would not help in the long run. He couldn't afford to go into heat. They had no shelter and very little food and water; the leader could not become the burden. Walkers trailed behind them slowly, but they paid them no mind.

He had to find somewhere safe for his pack, for his kids. Leaning down, he inhaled the scent of his daughter Judith; they had almost none of her food left. He doubted she was ready for solids. Rick remembered vaguely how his youngest came to be. He had been desperate, distraught at the time. His mate, Lori, had died in a car crash. He couldn't believe it at first; after all, there would be very little cars on the road. But it was true. She must not have been paying any attention, and they found a walker feasting on her not soon after.

The omega hadn't spoken to anyone at the time, anyone but Shane. He wouldn't even see Carl. His parents had always assumed he would get with Shane ever since he was a young child, and they were right in that. All of the stress and emotions swirling in his mind triggered the release of hormones that started a heat. Shane had been the only one Rick would even let near him, and as a result, Judith was born nine months later. Shane never saw her however. He forced Rick's hand, and now, he was gone forever.

After they escaped from Hershel's farm, he didn't think he could lead them. He had been pregnant, and there was no where safe he could go. He was weak, clingy, and bitchy, but eventually, they found the prison. Rick took part in making the prison a safe space for his pack regardless of how many times they told him to rest. At that point, he had been heavily pregnant, but he couldn't sit back and do nothing like the others wanted. Judith turned out just fine, and so did he. Hershel made sure they were okay.

Nothing good could last in the world these days. The Governor had wanted the prison for his own people. Either he could have it or no one could, and as it turned out, no one could. Luckily, many of them escaped, but they were all separated from one another. However, he still lost people. He still lost the place he had wanted to become home.

Then came the Claimers. He had been wounded upon their first encounter, and he had been desperate for their second. Daryl was there, thank God, but Rick couldn't accept what Joe and his men had wanted to do. They didn't give him a chance to escape. They claimed him. He had blocked out most of his memories of the experience, but he did remember Joe knotting him, fucking him, raping him. He remembered tearing his throat out with his teeth while the knot was still stuck inside of him. He still got caught in flashbacks and nightmares of that sometimes, but everyone nowadays was traumatized. He couldn't afford to be seen as weak by anyone else.

Joe's knot must have triggered something within him because he had went into heat soon after just in time for the hellhole called Terminus. He had hoped that that place would become a new home, but he knew better than that. He stashed some of their weapons outside where it was 'safe' before going in. Soon after going in, they were thrown in the train car and reunited with other members of his pack. Despite their own situations, they still felt the urge to overly concern themselves with Rick probably due to the flowery smell of his heat and the sweat covering his body. He hated when anyone treated him as inferior since he was an omega. He could be just as strong as anyone else, and he didn't need anyone coddling him. Most of the pack understood that, especially Daryl and Michonne.

At Terminus, they had taken a special interest in him. Omegas had become a rarity in the Apocalypse. Most of them died quickly or were kept captive by cruel alphas, but he wouldn't let that happen to him. Gareth had stopped by to smell him often, commenting on how he wondered how a bitch in heat would taste in comparison to the others. Would he be sweeter?

Fortunately, Carol came to the rescue, and they found themselves back on the road again. Tyreese and Judith were still alive, something Rick was still grateful for. Thinking that his daughter was dead caused him to have some of the worst days of his life. Unfortunately, his heat had not stopped by that time. He was only slowing them down when they should be getting as far away from Terminus as fast as possible. Many of the alphas of the group offered to help him like they normally did, but sex was the last thing Rick wanted to do. Every time he thought about it, every time someone touched him unexpectedly, all he could think about was Joe, the Claimers, and how their hands felt on them. The rest of the pack knew something was wrong, but only Daryl, Michonne, and Carl knew what. He wasn't sure if he would ever heal enough to be okay with it ever again. He was too trapped in the past.

They met and saved Gabriel, and in return, he gave them food and shelter. But he knew that things were going too good. Bob went missing and later died from his injuries, and the group finally put an end to the cannibals. The killing had startled Gabriel. He didn't seem to trust them anymore, but they went on from the church soon enough when that too became unsafe.

Daryl and Carol went after Beth to Grady Memorial Hospital, but Carol was taken. The pack had tried to convince Rick not to get involved since he was still in heat, but he would not be swayed. It was torture. His body was screaming for one thing, but his mind was terrified at the very thought of it. Omegas were not made to handle this much while they were in heat, and his body did not forgive him. He fainted, collapsed, and could not help save the two members of his pack. They got Carol, but Beth died. Someone always died. Maybe it would have turned out different if he had been strong enough, if he was not cursed with an omegan body.

His heat had thankfully ended soon after that, but now, he felt it starting once more. Normally, he had more time between them, so he didn't quite understand why this was happening. Was it stress? Something else? What was causing this abnormality?

Daryl side-eyed Rick. The two of them had been walking together, and they had known each other long enough to be familiar with their scents. "You okay, Rick?"

He nodded, barely paying attention. It had to storm soon. They needed shelter. He could not afford to be a burden or a distraction. He had to move forward.


	2. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The storm hits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Luckily, the pack had found some form of shelter before they all died of hypothermia. The rain was ice cold, and while it provided Rick with some relief from the heat swirling deep inside his core, he knew that others, including Judith, would be unable to stand staying out in the rain all night. The group mostly sat there, eating some of the precious little food they had left. The leader found himself nodding off, trying his best to ignore the torment his body was putting him through.

"Dad, you should eat something." Carl's voice sounded from in front of him, and Rick's eyes finally came back into focus to look at him.

He sighed, shaking his head. "I'm okay."

"You smell different." He commented.

Abraham spoke up from a little way's away. "Kid's right. Didn't you just come out of heat?"

Rick played with his daughter's hands for a little bit, processing what the others were telling him. It was obvious that the rest of the group had finally picked up on his scent. He had hoped that the rain would mask it, but they were inside now.

"I'm not hungry right now." The omega eventually answered.

"Bullshit." The red-headed alpha argued. "You'll need your energy, especially if you're going into heat."

He really did not. He wouldn't be doing anything sexual during his heat. He just couldn't. Under normal circumstances, he'd have some of the alphas in the pack help him, but the very thought of someone touching him like that sent shivers up his spine. No. No one was going to touch him.

Phantom hands worked their way around his body, and Rick tensed at the sensation. They weren't here anymore. They were dead; they couldn't hurt him. At the same time, they were torturing him from beyond the grave, and with that, he was suddenly in a different time.

"What do you think? Should we teach this omega bitch a lesson?" Joe laughed cruelly. "We could use him as an example for the other folk in there."

Daryl raised his voice. "Rick is a good man."

"That, my friend, is a lie."

The other Claimers seemed to be almost frothing at the mouth, desperate to get to him or to kill Daryl. He couldn't figure out which.

Joe ran his hand along Rick's obliques, pressing hard on some of his still-healing bruises. "You don't like that, do you? You need to learn your place in this world. Omegas are always and will always be at the bottom." He unzipped his pants and grinded his hard dick into the omega's thigh.

"No," the hunter protested again, but Joe knew how to silence him. Some of the other Claimers took out their weapons and aimed them at different members of the group: Michonne, Carl, Rick, and Daryl.

Joe sniffed at Rick's scent glands and paused before biting down hard and sucking. Unlike a normal hickey, it turned a dark shade of purplish-brown almost instantly. The omega suppressed the urge to moan, knowing that whatever was about to happen was bound to send him falling into heat. He averted his eyes from Joe and accidentally met his son's gaze. None of the other three had had much of a chance to help him yet, but that didn't matter. Rick was supposed to keep them safe.

After what felt like an eternity, Joe ripped off Rick's pants and shoved his dick in his hole with little to no prep. Normally, an omega would secrete a lubricant, but that only worked while they were in heat. The omega couldn't help but scream as he felt himself tear under the violence. Joe sluggishly beat into him, planning on taking as long as possible.

"I claim the bitch." Joe reminded the other members of his group. "Killing him would be too easy of a punishment for his crime, wouldn't it?"

The other Claimers mumbled their agreement, but none of them spoke loud enough for Rick to identify exactly what they were saying.

"Tell me, Rick, how would you feel about traveling with us? How would you feel to be downgraded to where you belong? A slutty, pregnant bitch." Joe breathed in his ear. "You belong beneath us."

Rick could feel the anger pouring off of his pack-mates, but he didn't look over. His eyes glazed over, losing their focus. He couldn't be used in this way. They were only considering the idea because of how rare omegas were becoming. They wanted him weak, so they could use them. They wanted him to give them pleasure, satisfaction, and probably children.

"Maybe you could use a bit more convincing. You see your friends over there? Unless you do what I say, you won't see them ever again." Joe knew it was risky business threatening an omega's child, but he did so anyway.

Fury bled into Rick's brain. Joe and the other Claimers said a few more things each, but his mind was too clouded to pay attention. All he knew was that this man was a threat to his pack, to his children. He tried to maneuver away from him, but unfortunately, his knot was no where near close to deflated.

And then, Rick decided to tear his throat out.

He only came back to reality when he felt someone trying to take Judith from him. Purely out of instinct, he raised his hand as quickly as possible and slapped the shit out of them. It was only Daryl.

"Are you sure you're doing fine?" Carol raised a suspicious eyebrow. "You were daydreaming a long while."

Rick found himself shaking and covered in sweat. This time, he let Daryl take his baby girl out of his arms and sighed. He could still hear their voices, still feel their hands touching him.

He doubted that that would ever change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggestions and comments are welcome and appreciated!


	3. Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick thinks about some things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Eventually, Rick felt the intense heat slowly subside in his abdomen. He wasn't sure why, but he wasn't complaining. His scent still smelled flowery, like he had run through a floral market or something, but it wasn't as intense as it normally was in heat. He was familiar with a possible cause behind this, but it pained him to even think or consider it.

The condition produced a scent very similar to that of an omegan heat, and while the feeling of a heat was common near the beginning, it was not constant. But it wasn't possible for him to have this condition right then. Surely, he or someone in his pack would have noticed by now. Then again, it was still possible that all of this was due to the immense stress he and the entire group had been under recently. Yeah, he would go with that for now. He would do his best to ignore the biting of anxiety in his head and focus on anything else.

It was still storming outside, but night had finally fallen. Most of his pack were asleep right then, but Daryl and Sasha remained vigilant as they were keeping watch. The omega knew that he should try to get some rest; he would be even more useless if he were tired. Despite that, he couldn't make himself close his eyes, let alone actually fall asleep. He needed everyone to stay exactly where he could see them. Who knows what would happen if one of them left? Would they end up like Bob?

Rick shook his head and rolled over onto his side. His son had fashioned a makeshift crib for Judith out of whatever they found around the area. The father almost wished that she would become fussy. He needed something to occupy his mind.

His abdomen slowly started heating again, and for Rick, that was the last straw. He had most definitely lost. What was it that Joe wanted out of him? He wanted him to be a 'slutty, pregnant bitch?' The omega shivered. If his suspicions were correct, his life would become even more shitty than it already was. He couldn't deal with it. Judith was hard enough, so how could anyone expect him to carry the child of a monster?

He barely noticed his breathing quicken. He couldn't do this. He had to get rid of it, preferably before the members of his pack picked up on it. They were still thinking that it was just a stress-induced heat, and Rick was happy to keep it that way. Joe had left him a parasite, one that he didn't want anyone knowing about. His knuckles had become stark white under the pressure he was exerting on his fists. Why did everything shitty always happen to this particular pack?

Suddenly, their shelter seemed too small, way too small. He had to get out; he had to breathe in some fresh air regardless of the rain pouring down. He wiped at his face. It was wet, but he couldn't tell if it was sweat or tears. It wasn't fair. He needed out now. As panic set in, he considered his options. The pack had almost no supplies, let alone abortion pills. He could ask for some next time someone went on a run, but he needed to keep this to himself. What would they think of him if they discovered the truth? That their leader was pathetic? That he couldn't stop himself from getting whored out? Or maybe they would think that he did it on purpose. Maybe they would think that he wanted it or planned for it to happen. The other option seemed attractive. He could simple take out the parasite on his own with a knife, but he doubted that his pack would let him get away with that regardless of whether or not he was the leader. Plus, they had precious little medical supplies on them, so he couldn't waste them on himself. That would just be selfish.

But what could he do? He wasn't stable enough to go through pregnancy again. They weren't safe. They had no permanent residence, and even if they had all of that, Rick didn't think he could bring himself to give birth to Joe's child. He was the only possibility for the father. Since the incident, he had been avoiding touch, especially those of a sexual nature, like it was the plague. He had not been fucked by anyone but him in the correct time frame.

His brain flashed towards the prison. He had been heavily pregnant, bordering on overdue surprisingly, but Judith would not come out. All of his pack members wanted him to stop working as hard as he had been, but Rick didn't see the point in that. He could still contribute; he wasn't an invalid. Regardless, no matter how uncomfortable the pregnancy was out in the Apocalypse, it still was nothing in comparison to actual labor. Hershel had luckily been nearby and was able to help him. Daryl and Glenn had led him to one of the mattresses around the prison, but he had all but forgotten about their presence from the pain. All in all, the labor itself lasted 28 hours. Those hours were spent in silent pain. He didn't want to be too loud as to not disturb others or attract walkers to their location.

Rick tossed and turned once more, but no position could resolve the discomfort he felt internally. To top all of his problems off, they had no real medic in their pack. They knew the basics, but he doubted anyone would have the know-how to help him throughout his pregnancy if he decided to keep it.

Everything inside of him was screaming at him to get rid of it, to get rid of the poison that Joe had planted in him, but it wasn't that simple. Rick had dealt with some cases during his time as a cop involving children, and it was needless to say that he had a bit of a soft spot for them. Almost every omega did.

He needed out, but if he got up, Daryl and Sasha would ask him questions and demand answers. Everyone in the group knew that something was wrong with him, that something had happened to put him so on edge, but he didn't want to tell them what. Would they lose faith in him as an omegan leader if they found out he couldn't even defend himself?

He could just bolt out the door and enjoy the cool rain, but that would be dangerous. Who knows what would be out there? All of the alphas in the pack would berate him on not taking care of himself and being reckless.

But they didn't understand. He needed out. Out of the parasitic pregnancy, out of the shelter, out of the Apocalypse. He was glad that no one could hear his thoughts. They didn't needed to know how whiny he could really be.

Omegas were well-known for their whining. It was a sharp, high-pitched sound that they would make to signal to their pack that they were distressed. Rick hadn't made that sound since Shane was still alive, and even then, it was only while he was at his most vulnerable with his wife dead and a heat bearing down on him. He liked to think of himself as a strong man; he could get what he needed without whining.

The air seemed to be getting thicker, and Rick's vision swam. And then, he knew nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggestions and comments are welcome and appreciated!


	4. Alexandria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They move on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Even unconscious, Rick could smell the distress coming off of him. He bet that the others had too, especially Sasha and Daryl since they were both already awake. He tried to calm himself down, but it seemed impossible. There were too many shitty things for his mind to torture him with. Would he think about Lori? Hershel? Beth?

His dreams decided to focus on the newest bullshit in his life. Last time he had gotten pregnant, he had almost died. Hershel was close to performing a c-section, an operation that would no doubt end his life, but Judith eventually cooperated enough to come out naturally. He couldn't do this one though. He was not about to risk his life for the parasite to come to life. What sort of child could come from such a monster? It was only a reminder of just how weak he had been, of how he had failed.

Michonne, Daryl, and Carl would never look at him the same way again. They knew that he was broken and weak now. His son wouldn't want to be associated with a monster's slut, and it would only get worse if they learned of the parasite. Heat pooled into his abdomen and caused it to cramp severely, but he ignored it for the time being. It would be over soon. Somehow, Rick was going to prevent this from happening even if he had to take a knife to the barely noticeable curve on his abdomen.

He felt hands on him, and even though he knew deep down that it couldn't be the Claimers doing it, his heart still lodged itself in his throat. Even if he could convince himself to open his eyes, he couldn't get over his fear of seeing Joe and the others. It felt more like someone was shaking him and trying to wake him up, but his legs felt like lead.

Rick began to hear voices from where he was. He heard Michonne, but there was also an unfamiliar voice coming from a male. Who could it be? Who found them? No matter what, the omega knew that it was at least partly his fault. His scent was extremely strong at the moment.

The strange voice spoke up again. "My job at Alexandria is to recruit more people, and I thought that you guys would be perfect. We have food, shelter, and water. There is a wall to protect us all."

How did he know that they deserved it? Had he been following them, watching them? If he could do it, someone else could have too, and that was dangerous. It was threatening to his pack and his children.

Rick forced himself from where he had passed out from exhaustion and made his way over to the threat. The stranger looked at him in sympathy, and Rick couldn't stand it. He punched his lights out.

"What's been going on with you?" Maggie asked quietly as they secured the stranger, who Rick now knew was called Aaron.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

She frowned. "You smell so distressed, and you've been acting strange since Terminus."

He refrained from correcting her. Rick knew he had been acting unusual, but it had started before Terminus. "There's nothing going on."

A cramp hit him hard, but he resisted the urge to gasp out of pain. This had happened last time he was pregnant too, but all it was now was a reminder of that monster. He had to get rid of it quickly. It wasn't even a baby yet; it was just a clump of cells.

"Dad, I think you should sit down. You aren't looking so good."

Rick scowled but collapsed onto the floor anyway. He was not used to taking orders from his son, but he knew that he was right in this case.

Michonne placed a hand on his shoulder, and he flinched hard and almost hit her. Maggie looked at him pointedly before sharing a glance with Glenn and nodding. 

She removed her hand immediately. "I think we should check this place out, Rick. We need what they have."

"It could turn out like Terminus." The omega argued. "I'm not about to put that much faith in a complete stranger. Not in this day and age."

"We should still check it out. We need their resources."

"She's right." Daryl cautiously sat down next to him, being careful not to startle him.

Rick loved Daryl's scent. It always brought him comfort. It was familiar. He breathed deeply. "I don't know."

"He said that they have a doctor too, and if I am not mistaken, some of us need to be checked out by this person." Eugene commented, and Rick's heart froze. Did he know about the demon inside of him?

Tara nodded her head. "We can't keep going nonstop. Someone's going to get injured eventually, and we'll need someone with medical knowledge."

The omega nearly breathed a sigh of relief. It sounded like they didn't know about his problem, and for that, Rick was grateful. At the same time, he couldn't stop thinking about the doctor. Would he have the pills that he so desperately needed? Rick felt like he would go crazy if he had to spend one more day with the parasite inside of him. He would do anything to remove it.

He hesitated. "I suppose it's worth a shot. They seem like they have a lot of stuff we need." Rick decided that he would reserve his judgment of the place until he got the doctor to help him with his problem. They would be confidential, right? Doctors weren't supposed to go around telling others about their patient's problems.

"I'm glad to hear that." Aaron's voice sounded from the chair. Rick hadn't noticed that he had woken up, but it seemed like some of the others had. "But first, we have to get my partner, Eric. He's injured."

Rick still didn't trust this guy one bit. "Only some of us should go. I'm not letting the entire group follow you." It could very well be a trap.

Aaron seemed like he understood. "All right. Who were you thinking of bringing?"

"Daryl, Michonne, and I."

Abraham choked on air. "I don't think that is a good idea."

Rick knew his reasoning, but it still irked him. "And why not?" He challenged the alpha. After all, Rick was in charge, not him.

"Your scent is going to attract so many people and maybe even walkers if you go out." He explained. "I saw it enough in Houston. The omegas were targeted more while they were in heat than when they weren't. Let me go instead."

Carol smiled. "I think that's a good idea." He knew that she just wanted to figure out what was going on with him. Rick knew they must be curious, but he wasn't about to tell anyone.

It was hours before they came back, and it took equally as long to get to Alexandria. He mostly passed the time by thinking and playing with his daughter, but as usual, his brain couldn't find anything good to offer him. Almost immediately upon arrival to Alexandria, they were put into a nice looking room, a room cleaner and more well kept than he had seen in years. He scratched at his beard, waiting for the woman across from him to speak.

"I'm Deanna Monroe. Welcome to Alexandria." She greeted. "You're Rick, right?"

Rick nodded his head, unsure if the cramping in his stomach was from his condition or his nerves. "That's right."

"Do you have anything you'd be able to offer Alexandria?"

"Used to be a cop." He shrugged.

Rick knew that she was surprised by that. Typically, cops were all alphas. She got over it quickly however and continued the interview.

"We do not allow guns inside the walls. You can get one only for going beyond them." She went over some of the rules.

Was this community crazy? Nowadays, people needed to be packing everywhere. Who knows where a walker could show up? Some bad people? Rick already knew that he wouldn't be paying much attention to that rule.

Nevertheless, at the end of the interview and after the whole pack had been welcomed into Alexandria, he had to sort out his priorities. "Where is the doctor around here? I have something I need to talk to them about."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated! Sorry if this sucks, the chapter got deleted and I got frustrated dddd


	5. The Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick is desperate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

"And this is where you'll be staying." Deanna personally led the group from house to house.

Rick knew that they weren't all going to sleep in separate buildings. They had been together for too long, and it could very well be a trap. It was kind of her to offer them houses though, and they were all transfixed by the presence of running water.

Before leaving, the leader of Alexandria turned back to Rick. "I can show you to our doctor now. His name is Pete Anderson."

He nodded his head and rose to his feet, not turning to glance at anyone in his pack.

"Why do you need a doctor, Dad?" Carl looked confused. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Rick reassured him. "I just need to get a few things...looked at."

Abraham stepped forward. "One of us should come with you. Who knows what the alphas in this place will do to you if they smell you?"

"I can take care of myself." The omega found himself glaring at the red-headed alpha. He knew that the man had good intentions at heart, but he needed to learn that Rick could take care of himself. Otherwise, he would have been dead or captured by a group of sick alphas.

Deanna put her two cents in. "There is no one who would take advantage of an omega in Alexandria. Many of the people here have not experienced what it is like nowadays outside the walls, so they do not act as...old fashioned as some would say. Rick is going to be just fine."

Rick could smell the concern radiating around the group. They were all worried about what he needed checked out, and the majority of them didn't even have a clue what had happened. He supposed that it was possible for Daryl, Carl, and Michonne to have a clue, but the others shouldn't know. They would never know. Once he got the parasite taken out of him, he would return to the normal Rick the pack was used to, and people would stop pressing him about whether or not he was okay.

Deanna led Rick over to a new building, and the omega looked behind him. He wouldn't put it past some of the more protective alphas in the pack to follow him to see what was going on, but he needed absolute privacy. Deanna knocked on the door in a short rhythm, and it was quickly opened by a woman.

"Deanna! Is something wrong?" She asked.

The leader of Alexandria shook her head. "No. We just welcomed a new group of people into Alexandria, but Rick here would like to be checked out by Pete."

"Yes, of course, come in." The woman opened the door wider for them to enter. "You're Rick, right? I'm Jessie."

The omega regarded the beta woman carefully. She was attractive. There was no doubt about that, but at the same time, something about her felt off. She must be hiding something, but Rick couldn't be sure what. Being an omega had allowed him to have a greater understanding of emotions and how people feel and hide them. He was normally used to help calm distressed victims back in the day since his omegan scent was considered calming. To his frustration, Shane normally got the more dangerous jobs while they were on the force.

Soon enough, the two women left the room, and an alpha male stepped in. He must be Pete. Rick found his presence to be unsettling too, but he still couldn't figure out why.

"How can I help you?" Pete asked once he had introduced himself.

Rick froze, hesitant to say what needed to be said. Could he really trust this man to keep his secrets? He had been so ready to get rid of the parasite, but he didn't think he could handle the shame of explaining what had happened.

"You okay, Rick?"

The omega realized he had been silent for over a minute. Pete looked concerned, but Rick could tell that it was fake. "I....need an abortion."

The alpha's eyebrows knitted themselves together. "Are you sure? It is a lot safer to bear children now that you are in here rather than on the outside."

"It doesn't matter to me whether I am in here or out there. I need it out. It's a parasite, a clump of cells, not a baby." Rick argued.

The doctor bit his lip. "Shouldn't we ask the father first?"

"He's dead." The omega narrowed his eyes. "He was a rapist."

Pete's mouth formed the shape of an 'o.' "That is why you want an abortion?"

"I can't do it. I need it out of me as soon as possible before I do something I'll regret."

"I just don't think you are in the right mindset now to decide if you want to murder your pup or not." His eyes bled red a bit, and Rick leaned away from the man. What was his problem?

"Please. I need the pills."

"Unfortunately, I don't have any. We haven't had the need for them, you see. We aren't like you outsiders; we don't murder our young."

Rick swallowed hard. "Could you ask for some? I could go on a run! No one would have to know that it was for me."

Pete shook his head hard. "I do not condone the murder of children."

The omega was getting more and more desperate. "Please. I don't know what I'll do if I can't get rid of this parasite. I need it out even if I have to rip it out myself."

"There is someone here you could talk to if you're thinking about self harm." The alpha's eyes remained compassionate, but Rick could see the disgust brewing underneath of it.

"I just need it out. I'll do anything."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

The doctor hesitated. "Well, maybe I could work something out..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!


	6. Desperation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick has problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Rick tensed as he heard the other man's statement. He had a smile on his face, but it wasn't a good one. It seemed more lecherous, and suddenly, he understood why he had felt more hesitant around him earlier. This man was one of the bad alphas. Perhaps Deanna and the rest of Alexandria didn't know it, but to him, it was clear as day.

He faintly registered himself moving backwards as Pete approached him. The doctor must have seen or smelled something on him because he stopped in his tracks and looked around suspiciously.

He cleared his throat. "Well, Rick, I hope we can be friends, but I'm afraid I can't do much for you right now." The alpha still seemed distracted as if there were some threat in the area.

Rick's heart tightened in his chest. What would this man consider a threat? Had someone from his pack followed him here? Is that what set Pete off? More importantly, did someone now know of his problem?

The omega didn't remember what happened just after he left the Andersons' house, but his memory picked back up when he got outside the walls. The people in Alexandria were ignorant to the problems afflicting today's world. They were weak. Did they not understand how dangerous it was to have so little defenses? They had a watch tower, but when Rick had looked, there was no one in it. That combined with the lack of guns meant that they were incredibly vulnerable to attack. Maybe they had been lucky thus far, but luck ran out. Something was bound to happen soon.

He stashed one of his guns inside a blender in a pile of junk in the middle of nowhere before continuing walking. The rest of his pack were bound to be at least annoyed, at most furious when he returned. After all, he was by himself, and they thought he was in heat. Heats tended to make an omega weak, and while Rick knew he was no where near his optimal strength at the moment, he was angry enough to be a force to be reckoned with. He stalked further away from the community, not quite sure what he was looking for. 

That was a lie. He knew deep down that he was subconsciously trying to find anything that could help him resolve his problem. Rick had learned that only specific people did runs in Alexandria, but he wasn't about to give away all of his secrets to someone he had just met. The omega had yet to clean himself up at that moment in time as he had been so desperate to get to Pete, and he knew that he must look completely feral to the members of the cloistered community. He knew he should try to fit in, but he also didn't want the others to feel comfortable around him. Like this, he looked strong. They wouldn't mess with him. They wouldn't dare.

After what must have been an hour of walking, he came across a small neighborhood. Due to its close proximity to Alexandria, they had probably stripped it of its food and anything useful, but he still had to look. As Pete said, they hadn't needed any abortion pills, so they could have left them there. The omega really couldn't care less if Pete hated him for aborting the parasite. He knew that there were certain people in the world who thought that he should suck it up and deal with his problems just so the pup could be born, but he wasn't about to put himself through that. He needed out.

There had been a few walkers wandering around the neighborhood, but Rick killed them all quickly. He ducked into the nearest house and started looking for some sort of medicine cabinet. It should be in either the bathroom or the kitchen realistically, but that didn't stop the omega from having problems finding it. When he eventually discovered it, it was already stripped of anything useful. Someone must have been here first, whether they were from Alexandria or not. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up a little bit; what if they had been bad people? What if they were coming back? He knew he should have brought someone with him instead of going at it by himself, but who could he have possibly brought? He didn't want anyone knowing of his problem, and now, Pete did. And Pete was a bad alpha. Stress flew through Rick's system. Would the doctor reveal his secret to the others in an attempt to convince him to keep the parasite? Maybe they all already knew. Maybe they all already hated him.

Rick all but collapsed onto the musty sofa just as an additional cramp set in. He hated it. With Judith, it had been easier, but he couldn't stand the reminder. He vaguely registered the large amount of distress radiating off of himself before he was in another time.

"You good, Rick?" Daryl had asked him.

The four of them had found a relatively small house to camp out for the night after their run in with the Claimers. Rick hadn't spoken since then, and he didn't now. His threadbare jeans were stained a deep, blood red color, but he tried to ignore the pain coming from his wounds. The omega didn't respond to the alpha, instead looking forward with sightless eyes.

Carl had not stopped staring at him with something akin to horror in his eyes. Rick wished that he would look away, look at anything but him; he didn't. Daryl reached out to touch him, but the omega had flinched hard. The other man removed his hand immediately, sensing that the omega needed some time to process what had just happened.

He knew that at one point Daryl must have gone hunting since they had food that night, but Rick had no memory of him leaving. It made sense; it wasn't like he was paying any attention. They had somehow convinced him to try to eat, but the pain had made it impossible to keep anything down.

It was incredibly difficult for the group to make any progress in moving towards Terminus. They had to stop frequently because of Rick, and he hated feeling like that much of a burden. He had tried to push through the pain, but he couldn't hide it from them.

The omega was shot back into reality by the roar of an engine. He stood up quickly, his fingers reaching and wrapping around his Colt. Peering out the window, he couldn't tell where exactly the sound was coming from. There was no one there. Rick blinked hard, rubbing his eyes. Had he been hearing things?

He knew that by now his pack was probably looking for him. He hadn't checked back in with them after seeing Pete, so they would go to him first to try to find him. Would he tell them? Did they know?

Rick shook his head hard. He couldn't worry about anything like that now. Walking towards the front door, he forced himself into the fading sunlight and went into another house. Perhaps they would have what he was looking for.

They didn't. Neither did the next house, nor the next house. With each disappointment, his arms grew shakier. He knew he should turn back now if he wanted to get back to Alexandria before nightfall, but he couldn't make himself do it. His senses were constantly on high alert, and he was aware of a thin coating of stress-induced sweat coating his skin.

He couldn't turn back now. His pack would never let him out on his own again; after disappearing without telling anyone for so long, they would assume that he was too unstable (or maybe just stupid) to be left alone. This was his only chance to do what needed to be done. Rick knew that he was being reckless, careless, idiotic. Anything could happen: walkers, bad people, weather. He had no back up; no one was watching his six. The omega pinched himself as he felt himself zoning out again. He couldn't even stay in the present at the moment. His brain always turned towards Joe.

His breathing quickened, and the house he was in became too small. It felt like the walls were closing in on him. Eventually, they would crush him. Perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad thing though. Even if he got injured or killed, it would probably take care of his problem too. His grip on his gun tightened, and he took a deep breath. Everyone would think he was so weak if they could hear what was going through his head. He knew he was weak, but he had to appear strong. Bad things happened to weak omegas in this day and age.

He inhaled deeply, somewhat missing the comforting scents of his pack. They had been together for a very long time, and he hadn't been alone like this in what seemed like forever.

A crash sounded from the shed of the house he was closest to a few moments later. Raising his gun, he warily approached the wooden structure and knocked on the door. He heard a growl in response, and he backed up just in time for the walker to burst out of the building. It was a woman who had probably died between the ages of twenty-five to thirty. Her hair was falling off in clumps with the rest of her scalp, and the skin of her face had decayed to a point where she was just teeth. The worst thing, though, was what Rick saw when he looked a little lower. Upon her death, she had been pregnant. Heavily pregnant.

Rick wanted to puke. The weight of her stomach had pulled at her decaying skin to a point where he could see an equally rotten pup. Only the pup was still moving. It must have been developed enough to become a walker in its own right.

His hand shook as he tried to keep his gun steady. She wavered as she stumbled closer to him, but he didn't shoot. Not yet. He couldn't aim well enough at that moment to ensure a clean head shot, and he was conscious enough at that moment to know that he shouldn't waste bullets. He felt vomit coming up as she came closer, and he dropped his gun. Rick backed away some more, dry heaving a bit before fingering the knife at his belt.

If he didn't find a way to terminate his pregnancy soon, this would happen to him. He was looking at his own future. What were the odds that he could survive another pregnancy during the Apocalypse? Especially one he wanted to end himself. With a newfound savage hunger, he launched himself at the walker. He wasn't about to be killed due to his own stupid feelings and trauma; those excuses didn't fly anymore.

His knife found its way into her head right above her left ear. He backtracked slightly to allow her to fall to the ground, but something was still moving. Rick dry-heaved again, realizing that he'd have to go digging for the pup walker too. Or did he really have to? It wasn't like it posed a real threat. He didn't want to; he wanted to get as far away from that as possible.

Rick shook his head. No, he should end that walker's life. The pup deserved to be laid to rest. Even though it was the last thing he wanted to do, he approached the body once more and stabbed hard into the woman's round belly, trying to find the head of the remaining walker.

It took a while since the omega did his best not to look, and by the time he found it, he was covered in blood once more. He scooted away from the massacre, legs too weak at the moment to stand. His back eventually hit the wall of the house, and he brought his knees to his chest, trying to quell the increasing nausea within him.

He didn't move even as night fell. He wasn't too sure as to how the Alexandrians would react to his abrupt departure, but he knew that his pack would be looking for him. Rick groaned, thinking about how they would never let him out of their sight again. He had done a lot of stupid things in his time, but this had to be one of the dumbest ideas he'd ever devised. He couldn't go back, not now. In the dark, he wasn't sure he'd be able to find his way back, and he sure as hell wouldn't be able to see any walkers. 

The omega thought about his children for a second. Carl was responsible enough to take care of Judith while he was away, but he sure as hell was going to be pissed with him when he came back. Rick didn't blame him either. If any other member of his pack had pulled a stunt like this, he would have skinned them alive.

Soon enough, the growing nausea became too much for him. He tried to ignore the body of the woman a few feet away from him, but he couldn't. An acidic taste filled his mouth as he heaved. He hadn't eaten anything recently, not since before the storm. Dark spots danced in his vision, but he barely noticed them. The wind blew against him hard and chilled him to the bone, and it started to rain.

He knew he should go into the house and get out of the bad weather. It would also give him some defenses against walkers and anyone who might mess with him, but he was uncertain if his legs would support him in the short journey. They felt like lead, but he forced them to cooperate.

He almost collapsed back down immediately, but he gripped the wall of the house for support. Hypothermia would set in soon enough if he stayed where he was. He strayed a little bit from it to grab his Colt from where it had fallen, but that meant going closer to the fallen walker. He didn't want to, but he knew that someone could come and take his stuff if he didn't. The journey back into the house was grueling, and it felt like it had taken hours. In reality, it was probably only a few minutes, but that didn't distract Rick from the pain.

The rain and wind had stopped the heat in his abdomen from bothering him for a little while, but it was replaced with a different type of pain. Even if he had stopped bleeding, he knew that he was still healing from the Claimers. It seemed like it was forever ago, but in reality, it had been a matter of weeks at most. Once inside, he went for the closest chair he could find. He meant to keep watch over himself, to make sure no one tried to fuck with him during the night, but he passed out almost instantly.

As always, he dreamed of the dead. Tyreese, Beth, Bob, Hershel, Lori, and Shane often occupied his head nowadays, but so did Joe and the other Claimers. His skin crawled as he felt hands running up and down his abdomen. They were not welcome. Those hands did not belong to anyone in his pack: not Daryl, not Michonne, and not anyone else. They were Joe's.

During the incident, he had taken time to run his hands over his abdomen and obliques, pressing extra hard on any bruised areas. It had been painful, but it wasn't nearly as painful as what he knew was to come. Rick knew that the Claimers originally planned on killing him, but upon discovering that he was an omega, their plans had changed. They were the bad type of alphas, the ones who wanted to keep omegas beneath them permanently. To them, they considered Rick to be a new possible form of entertainment. From the looks in their eyes, he saw that every single one of them wanted to knot him. They all wanted an omega to be theirs. They wanted a way to reproduce and pass on their genes, and Rick was such an opportunity.

He supposed one succeeded in that. Even if Joe would never know about it, Rick knew that he would be satisfied with his predicament. He hadn't even known the man that long, but all bad alphas were the same. Shane too had been similar. Sure, they had good times every once in a while, but he was incredibly controlling, especially after the dead started walking.

When he woke up, he immediately hurled again. Thankfully, light was streaming in through the windows, and the rain had stopped sometime during the night. Rick considered turning back to Alexandria then and there, but he still had things he had to do. His thoughts turned sour as he thought about what Pete might be doing at that moment in time. Was he pretending to be a concerned neighbor? They had only spoken once, but Rick already knew what sort of man he was.

He wandered over to the kitchen and looked in the cabinets. The only salvageable thing he could find was some stale crackers, but it was better than nothing. If he kept on going as he was, he was going to pass out soon.

His knife glinted in the sunlight. Rick sighed. This could be over so easily, but he was too much of a coward to do it. Ripping the parasite out with that would almost certainly end in his death out here. Even if he didn't care a lot about whether he lived or died at the moment, he had a pack to take care of, and he had to teach the people of Alexandria how to survive. If they didn't listen to his group, they wouldn't live much longer.

Slowly, he opened the front door and squinted through the sun. There was one house he hadn't had the chance of looking through yet. It had two stories in it, and it was painted a yellow color. Well, it used to be yellow, but it had faded and gone into disrepair. He pointedly looked away from the yard of the house he was leaving in an attempt to ignore the rotting corpse he knew was there and entered the final house. He knocked his Colt against the door frame but heard no movement. Quickly, he cleared every room he found, and there was only one walker in the building.

It was male and dressed in dark clothing. It looked like a normal walker on first glance, but something odd made Rick pause. There was a scar on his forehead, one in the shape of a W. He shrugged, not knowing how it got there; people got all sorts of scars and injuries nowadays. He was relatively easy to kill, and this time, Rick did so without any hesitation.

He went through the house's resources quickly, but to no surprise, he found nothing that could be of use. He felt so frustrated. After all of his effort, he had found nothing that could help him kill the parasite. Well, that was a lie. He knew that he could end its life with his knife or his Colt, but he also knew that the easy way was not necessarily the right way. Doing such a thing would definitely kill him, and he would end up turning. He didn't want to know what it would do to his pack, especially Carl, if they saw his dead body walking.

Rick exited the house, feeling his eyes start to water. He stubbornly refused to let himself cry though. There was no room in his life for tears. As he walked along the street, he mindlessly kicked a few stones and wondered what exactly he should do from there. He could continue looking, but that would cause him further endangerment. Or he could turn back to Alexandria, but then, he would have to face everyone.

However, there was a doctor there. Even if he didn't like or trust the man, Rick knew that Pete was interested enough in him that he would want him to live, so if he were to get an injury of some kind, perhaps a knife wound, there would be someone there who would treat him if only to save face. Doing that would probably make him lose even more trust from his pack, but he couldn't give a single flying fuck at the moment.

And with that, he turned on his heal and started the long trek back to where he came from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!


	7. Concern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick went missing, and the pack grows worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Abraham had not approved of Rick's idea. He was an omega in heat after all, and they didn't know the alphas in Alexandria that well. He couldn't go off on his own, even if it was just to get a check up from the doctor, but at the same time, he knew that the leader of the group would grow furious if he learned that he was stalking him.

It wasn't like he was spying on him or anything. He wasn't going so close as to eavesdrop on whatever issue Rick was having at the time, but he had to make sure that the doctor could smell him and know that there was someone nearby that would beat his ass if anything happened to Rick.

Michonne and Daryl had not approved of his plan, but he didn't need that from them. Sure, it may come across like he didn't think the omega was strong enough to beat anyone who fucked with him, but back up was always useful. Hell, he knew that the man could wipe the floor with almost anyone he knew. He had a strong will, but so did Abraham.

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Rosita slid down a nearby wall to sit on the ground. "He seemed...almost desperate to get to him. Like he had been waiting out for something for a very long time."

He was at a loss for ideas. "I don't know, but that's his business. He'll tell us if we need to know; I'm goddamn certain of it."

"We really shouldn't be hovering." The alpha woman looked guilty, but Abraham knew that she was thinking along the same lines as he was.

"We ain't hovering."

The two of them waited for a few more tense minutes. They knew that realistically appointments took a long time, but the longer the pack's omega was surrounded by strange alphas, the more his hair stood on edge. He could see some movement through the windows, and he could smell the alpha man and his beta wife. There were two others scents as well; they must have pups. Abraham and Rosita continued to monitor the situation when the most familiar scent in the area started to turn sour.

"The fuck?" Abraham looked to the other alpha. "Rick's distressed."

"Should we go in?"

"He'd tan our hides if we did." The alpha wasn't afraid of the omega, but he respected the man. He wasn't about to cause an embarrassment by sweeping into the room to rescue him or whatever bullshit would happen. Rick could take care of himself.

The omega in question all but fled the house soon after. He seemed distracted, and he wasn't walking back to the pack's place. Instead, Rick seemed to be heading towards the arsenal. They had been forced to turn their guns in earlier, so Abraham assumed that the sly fucker was trying to get some of them back.

"We should turn back." Rosita gripped his arm. "He wouldn't like it if he found us waiting here."

"He wouldn't like it regardless of if he found us here." Abraham argued but sighed at the same time. "But yeah, we should go back now."

Rick was out in the open now. If anything bad happened, if any alpha got a bit frisky, there would probably be enough of a commotion that the pack would figure it out and lend a hand before too much shit could go down. Besides, even if they just got here, he didn't get that vibe off of the Alexandrians. They weren't strong, not like Rick was. They couldn't hurt a fly.

Michonne frowned as they walked in. The entire group was still clustered together instead of exploring the new community. They were testing the waters, making sure that they would be safe before starting to split up.

"You shouldn't have spied on him. He can take care of himself." She set her sword down and met them with a hard stare.

"He can." The red-head agreed. "That doesn't mean I won't watch his six. He ran out of that doctor's appointment like a bat out of hell."

The group paused in unison and stared at him for a moment. Why would Rick do that? He was always confident in his actions.

After a few moments of silence, Abraham continued. "Look, from what I've heard, his behavior recently is not typical of him. Whether he got attacked or some other bullshit, I don't know, but I think it is enough to warrant a little bit of concern."

"I agree with that statement." Eugene backed him up. "He does not seem the type to run away."

"He isn't." Daryl bit his lip, glaring at anything he could find. "Why was he running?"

Rosita shrugged her shoulders. "We don't know. It's not like we were eavesdropping on him or anything; we know what privacy is."

"And you didn't think to find out what is wrong when the omega is running away and distressed?" The hunter raised his voice a bit.

He was throwing off equally angry and protective scents. Whatever was wrong with Rick, that man knew more about it than most of the group, and he wasn't warning them about it. How could they protect the omega if they didn't know what was wrong?

Abraham assumed that the correct answer was that they do not protect the omega. The omega protects himself. Rick must have grown self conscious because of his dynamic over the years; he felt that he constantly needed to prove that he had earned his jock strap. It must be exhausting. Even the strongest of alphas relied on their pack for some things, but based off of the looks of the other members, Abraham knew that he didn't have it quite right. No, they protected him when he needed it; they just gave him the opportunity to defend himself first.

"He'll come back." Maggie spoke up. "He won't do anything too dangerous without giving us some kind of warning."

Carol grimaced. "I don't know. He seems pretty erratic lately." They all knew that to be true.

After a few moments of silence, Glenn spoke up. "Let's give him some time. There's no reason to get worried if he's only gone for an hour or so."

"But if he's not back by then?" Daryl challenged.

"We'll start to look for him." He answered plainly, meeting his gaze.

Hours passed by. The minutes seemed to stretch out into an eternity as the pack waited for their leader to return. They were all getting antsy, especially Carl and Judith, but the elder brother seemed to be handling the situation responsibly. With a little help from Daryl, he was doing well in caring for his sister.

Tara looked around nervously. "You don't think he would spend the night alone out there, right?"

"He's normally not that reckless. Not unless it was a life or death situation." Daryl chewed on a bit of tobacco he had found somewhere. He preferred smoking, but nowadays, he would take what he could get.

Sasha tightened her hand around the knife at her waist. Ever since the deaths of Bob and Tyreese, she had turned into a very different person. She was more closed off and angry with the world. "It's getting dark. Depending on where he went, it might be safer for him to camp out somewhere."

"What if he runs into more bad people?" Carl unconsciously shivered at the thought of their latest encounters with other living humans. They seemed to always end with assault, cannibalism, or hostages.

"Saw him heading to the arsenal. He's got a gun." Abraham pitched in, sensing the distress off of the young alpha.

Suddenly, Daryl stood up abruptly. "Well, Glenn, it's been hours. I'm going to go look." He grunted a little bit before stalking towards the door.

"I'll go too." Michonne stood up to follow him before turning back to the group. "Anyone else coming?"

Carol knew she couldn't sacrifice her image as a simple house wife now. That would break the trust they had somehow managed to establish within Alexandria. "Carl and I can watch Judith. I think that the rest of you should try to find him." She was incredibly worried about the leader just like everyone else. Every now and then, Rick would have these episodes of mental problems. Sometimes, he would scream at nothing and talk to the dead like they were still alive. She recalled catching him speaking to absolutely no one on the telephone one time back at the prison, but she never brought it up in conversation with him.

Once they were outside the gate, they all did their best to try to distinguish their omega's scent from all others, but it was not as easy as one would think. Daryl knew that it was probably going to rain soon, and if it did, all of the scents would be washed away. The hunter examined the ground, trying to find the familiar footprints that he knew belonged to Rick.

It didn't take him that long to find it. Normally, Rick was much more careful in covering his tracks, but that didn't seem the case today. Whether he was just out of it or too angry to care, Daryl didn't know, but they needed to get him back. As much as he hated to agree with Abraham's more traditional views on omegas, he knew that there were bad people out there, and due to recent events, Rick was even more vulnerable.

But why had Rick fled to the doctor's office so early on in their stay? Surely, it could have waited until they were settled in and used to being around other people, but he acted like it was a life or death type of situation. Was the omega sick? Injured? Or was he hiding something else?

He supposed it could be due to his abnormal heat schedule. They had all been under a ton of stress in the last week or so, but there had only been two days between the end of his last heat and the start of a new one. Daryl hadn't paid much attention during his biology lessons in school, but he knew that that was not right. 

Daryl paused for a moment as the group came to a big pile of garbage in the middle of no where. There was one other possibility, and just thinking about it made his stomach do flips in his abdomen. It all suddenly made perfect sense.

Rick was pregnant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!


	8. Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The outside is a dangerous place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Rick ducked behind a wall, gripping his Colt with white knuckles as he heard the unmistakable sound of a roaring engine. He had heard a similar noise earlier in his quest, and while that specific scenario turned out to be what he thought was stress-induced hallucinations, there was no way of guaranteeing the safety of the world around them anymore. They were no longer at the top of the food chain.

He had been making steady progress back towards Alexandria, but it was taking a while. Without other group members to burden or annoy, he felt more comfortable taking breaks when the pain became too much. Every now and then, he would have an incident where he would end up throwing up the little that was in his stomach. To absolutely no one's surprise, it was incredibly acidic.

He hadn't spoken to Pete about getting treatment for the still-healing wounds that criss-crossed his body. To be frank, he didn't want that man anywhere near him nor anyone else; it was clear as day to him that he was a dangerous alpha. Rick only went to him for one thing and one thing only, so he could deal with the rest by himself. 

There hadn't been anything that could be of use in healing in those houses either. He hadn't expected anything to still be there; after all, antibiotics and other medications would be some of the first things taken from the houses on runs. Pete probably had some, but as he said before, he was not going to put himself into a situation where he was dependent on that man.

Rick remained as silent as he possibly could as he heard the roaring sound of a car's engine pass by once more. It stopped nearby, and based off of the noise of slamming doors, there were at least two people who got out of the vehicle. He hoped that they would leave soon after realizing that there was nothing of use around here anymore, but he knew that his luck couldn't be that good. He peaked out beyond the wall he was behind, not far enough to be noticeable but far enough for him to see what was going on. He was right; there were two men, both alphas, who had gotten out of the car. The two of them were armed with knives and guns, and they walked around like they owned the place. Was this where they lived? No, it couldn't be. Rick doubted that anyone would be stupid enough to choose such an unfortified place to be a long-term residence. They weren't very clean either although Rick couldn't say much about that. It wasn't like he was the poster child of hygiene at the moment anyway. The ex-deputy swallowed deeply and tried to push his scent as far back into his body as possible. It didn't usually work, but he didn't want to alert possible hostiles to his presence.

They shouted at each other for a few minutes, the taller of the two occasionally slamming his hand down on the hood of the car for emphasis. They both had Ws inscribed on their foreheads, just like the walker he had killed not long ago. Was he once part of their pack? Why did they all have the same scars? Rick assumed that it was just a bizarre way of claiming people as part of their pack, but if that was the case, there would be a bite mark in addition to that nonsense as well. Maybe they were part of a cult, or maybe they wanted something akin to matching tattoos. Rick didn't know the exact answer, but he didn't exactly want to stick around long enough to find out.

He held his breath and disappeared behind the wall again, waiting for the men to leave. Obviously, they came for something; otherwise, they wouldn't have left the safety of their car to argue. Rick felt his nausea rise once more, but he forced it down with an iron fist.

The voices were getting closer, and Rick tightened his hold on his gun. Had something given away his position? He didn't think that he gave off a distressed smell at that moment, but maybe he was. 

"Someone's been by." The taller of the two commented. "Dave's walker is dead, and so is that pregnant bitch's."

"Did they take anything?"

"I don't think so. It ain't like we left anything useful for them." He responded gruffly. "It was definitely an omega though."

The shorter alpha nodded. "Smells ripe. Fresh for the picking."

Rick grimaced as he backed away a little bit. They knew that he had been there, but they didn't necessarily know that he was still there. His stomach continued flipping around as they spoke however; they were talking just like Joe and the Claimers had before the incident. He tried to push his thoughts away. He really could not afford to get lost in his memories at this crucial moment.

The woods were only twenty feet away at most, but if he made a break for it, they would definitely see him. While their car couldn't follow, they could on foot, and they looked like they were adequate runners. He held his breath when he heard more movement from the alphas and made himself completely still. Unfortunately, that meant that he could not cover his scent glands any more than he usually did, but he hoped that he wasn't sending off any smells.

"Must have been recent. Bitch is probably still around here somewhere." There was a pause. "Maybe even in heat."

The shorter of the two snorted. "You want to do something about it? You're already mated."

"So? She's a beta. She'd understand if she knew that this was an omega we're dealing with; they aren't exactly common anymore."

Omegas were never really commonplace. To be fair, there used to be a lot more living than there were nowadays, but alphas and betas far outnumbered the other dynamic. It was one of the reasons that Rick was always wearing scent blockers when he was a cop. People could turn into ravenous beasts when confronted with something they deemed rare or exotic; it happened all the time with museum pieces or other priceless, one-of-a-kind artifacts.

"Come on. Why don't we just follow them back to wherever they came from? It ain't like there's much to scavenge around here anymore anyway."

Two bullets. That would be all it would take. Two bullets, and Rick would be free to go. His eyes flicked over to a wall across the street; it was sporting some graffiti that he hadn't noticed earlier. It said, 'Wolves Not Far.'

These people were dangerous. They were a threat, and Rick knew that there had to be more of them. One of them had mentioned a mate, so it was obvious that these two were only a fraction of their numbers. They wanted to follow him back to Alexandria to scavenge, and that presumably meant killing them and taking their supplies. He hadn't been around the community for long at all, but he couldn't exactly let that happen. Some of his pack members had high hopes for Alexandria, and he couldn't let the perfectly innocent but ignorant people be slaughtered.

He nearly gained faith in a higher power when he heard the distant growls of the dead. It wasn't coming from the forest but from the neighborhood the two alphas were standing in the middle of. Rick heard them curse and take out their knives, and while he didn't know how many walkers there were, he was nevertheless thankful for the distraction. He immediately sprinted towards the woods and disappeared out of sight, but he didn't stop running then. No, the two alphas could be following him. He couldn't lead them right to Alexandria, so he continued to run. It must have been about a mile before he stopped. Exhausted, he collapsed and leaned against a tree, deciding that he would wait a while to see if the two men ever showed up. If they were truly following him, they would make their presence known eventually. Rick could deal with them before they ever got to Alexandria.

His head spun. He knew he was dehydrated, but it wasn't like there was any drinkable water anywhere. The run must have cost him dearly in that regard. It was well worth it though. He didn't want to know what would have happened had the two alphas found him.

Day soon became night, and it once again started raining. This time, Rick had no house to camp out in, so he elected to climb the sturdiest looking tree. He didn't have anything to warn him of the presence of walkers. Plus, he would get hypothermia if he let the earth's cold soak into him. He had to remain off of the ground. The wind whipped him across the face, but he maintained his balance in the tree. He knew he wouldn't be getting that much sleep that night, not if he wanted to stay in the tree.

Like usual, he sank into his thoughts as he kept watch. Nowadays, no living person could be trusted. They all had some sort of agenda, and naturally, they all wanted to survive. He couldn't blame them for that, but that didn't mean he could condone their behavior. Even he acted like the bad guy sometimes, but that was for the good of his pack.

He thought about Lori. She said that she had only partnered up with Shane because they thought he was dead, but he never believed that entirely. Their behavior continued even after he returned, and it got him thinking that maybe it had started before the dead started walking. He tried to accept it. Sometimes, people fell out of love, and he and Lori had been having problems at that time.

And then, Lori died. Somehow, she managed to crash a car on an empty road, and that was the end for her. After that, Rick hated to even think about it, but he had turned into an inconsolable omega. He didn't let anyone but Shane near him. His brain, sensing the loss of his mate, instantly sent out hormones to trigger a heat in the hopes of attracting another mate. His body didn't care about his feelings; it just wanted to pass down his genes. That was how Judith was born.

He missed his baby girl. It hadn't been that long since he last saw her, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to be around her any less. He was half tempted to run back right then and there, but he couldn't let those scavengers follow him. At the same time, they never showed up, so maybe he was in the clear.

He shivered as the wind and the rain chilled him to the bone. He was going to catch his death out there if he didn't find any shelter, but he knew that it would be dangerous to search for one in the dark. He was truly stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Rick hoped that whoever was looking for him had taken shelter for the night. As much as he cared about them, he didn't want them to do stupid things like he was doing. He knew his actions were idiotic, but he couldn't stop himself from doing them.

Upon first light, he slid out of the tree. He was cold, wet, and probably catching some sort of illness at that point from staying outside in that weather. The world spun for a few minutes, and he gripped the side of the tree to orient himself. After that, he only had one place to go: Alexandria.

He hadn't even been walking for thirty minutes until he saw someone, someone alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!


	9. Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing! Sorry if anyone is out of character. I am manipulating the plot of the show a bit, so I am still working out how the characters would realistically react to what's going on. If you have any corrections, please tell me! :)

"Rick?" She asked.

After splitting up to search for their leader, Maggie had selected to go with Glenn. Father Gabriel had followed them for a while, but he wasn't built for this sort of action. Plus, he wasn't the friendliest towards Rick. He returned to Alexandria quickly, and she didn't blame him for doing so. They had been searching for hours, and at that point, it was getting dark. Glenn and she had continued searching for much longer, even as the sky turned black.

"Hey, Maggie." Rick blinked hard and looked around apprehensively as if he expected someone to attack them at any moment.

After hearing the commotion, Glenn jogged faster to catch up with his wife. He looked the omega up and down. "We were worried about you, man. Why did you leave by yourself?"

"I have things I need to take care of. Stuff." The ex-deputy shrugged and refused to elaborate further.

"You shouldn't have gone alone."

"And why is that?" Rick knew that the other man was right, but he couldn't help but feel a bit offended. "Is it because I'm an omega?" That had always been one of his deepest insecurities. In a perfect world, none of them would know his true dynamic, but suppressors were few and far between nowadays..

Glenn shook his head quickly. "No, it isn't that. It's dangerous to go alone. What if you ran into a herd? What if someone tried to mess with you?"

Rick's mind flashed back to the events of the last 24 hours. He had struggled to kill one of the walkers because of his own emotional weakness, and he had just barely escaped two scavengers. At least he was aware of their existence now, but that didn't make the younger man any less correct. He should have gone with someone, even if he didn't want to share his true reasoning for leaving to them.

Maggie spoke up. "We should go back to Alexandria. We're all worried, and you need to establish some dominance quickly."

That was true. If he wanted to have any say in what happened in the community, he would need to show them that he wasn't a weak omega. They would treat him like a stereotypical one otherwise, and Rick wouldn't be able to stand that. They would treat him like one would a helpless housewife, a damsel in distress, or even a babymaker. He would rather be castrated than have to deal with any of that utter bullshit. It had happened to him when he first became a cop, and it had happened when he first started forming his pack. Fortunately, he had managed to assert himself with his current group.

"They have running water. It's warm too." She commented. "You can get cleaned up a bit. Maybe shave too."

Rick bit his lip until he tasted the metallic flavor of blood. He didn't like being as dirty as he was then, but what else could be expected from the Apocalypse? If he remained the way he was, the innocent bastards in Alexandria would stay far away from him. He wouldn't have to worry about any of their alphas unless someone else was being targeted. At the same time, he knew that it was bad to always be an outsider in the community. His pack wanted to make the place their permanent home, and if he was going to get any say in what happened around there, the original members could not be afraid of him. He had to teach them how to survive. He had to show them how wrong they were in their current practices.

There was a bit of silence after Maggie's statement, but Glenn filled it. "We should go back anyway. Everyone's been looking for you." He sighed, turning his head a bit to the right.

"Yeah," his mouth dried as he nodded his head. "I suppose we should." He could already tell that some members of his pack were going to be pissed at him, and he deserved it. No matter what circumstances he had found himself in, he should have at least given the others a head's up, and it was just plain irresponsible to leave his children by themselves. He knew that Carl could care for Judith, but he shouldn't have to. That was Rick's job.

They turned back towards Alexandria and started the long haul back. Rick had never seen the two scavengers since his last encounter with them, so he hoped that they had lost his scent in the rain. Or maybe they had been killed by the walkers he had used as a distraction. He hadn't known how many there were, and he hadn't stuck around to find out. Nevertheless, he was still concerned about their presence. Their pack seemed to be situated close to Alexandria, much too close for him to be comfortable with. Even if they didn't know that the community was there, Rick knew that they were still a threat, one that the Alexandrians were not prepared for.

"Why'd you leave?" Glenn asked after they had walked for a few minutes.

Rick should have expected the question, but he didn't want to share the answer. "I had things I had to do." He used a tone of voice that would hopefully communicate to the other two that he was not going to be speaking on it anymore. Other members of their pack, such as Carl, Michonne, Daryl, or Carol, would probably not accept that as an answer, but he didn't plan on telling them either. This was something he had to deal with himself; otherwise, he would never be treated with as much respect as he was. The others would get protective because someone had hurt the pack omega, and they wouldn't treat him as the pack alpha anymore.

"Carl, Carol, and Gabriel are at Alexandria right now." Maggie spoke up. "Everyone else is looking for you."

Guilt ate at him a little bit. That was a lot of people searching for him, all of them out in the open and none of them safe behind the walls of the community. Not that inside the walls were safe. There was no safe anymore, only safer. "How long?"

"We started a couple hours after you left." Glenn answered. "We wanted to see if you'd come back on your own."

So they had tested him. They were probably trying to see if he was 'stable' or something or if it was one of the times he was not quite right in the head, and obviously, he had failed that test by not coming back in a timely manner.

The married couple would speak to each other once in a while, but the leader of the pack did not voice his thoughts for the rest of the journey back to Alexandria. They had only come across a few stray walkers, but they were small enough in number that the three of them were able to kill them in a short amount of time. No one else from their pack turned up either; they must have still been out looking for him. He hoped that they would return by nightfall. Based off of what he heart from Glenn and Maggie, they had stayed out searching for him throughout the night, and that was an extremely dangerous time to be beyond the walls, even if they had plenty of experience.

It was Nicholas who opened the door for them after some convincing; he hadn't met them yet and didn't know that they were now part of the community. After letting them in, he looked Rick up and down for a bit before turning to another Alexandrian and starting a conversation with them. The three of them didn't pay them any mind after their weapons were confiscated and after they started to walk away as the gates were closing.

From a distance, Rick could overhear what they were saying. It was Nicholas speaking to someone else named Carter. "If he didn't want to stay, why did Deanna even let them in? He ran away almost as soon as he came."

He ignored that for now, instead intent on seeing his children again. Their scents were stronger than those of the rest of his pack, so he knew for certain that they were within the confines of the walls.

"Dad!" His son's voice rang out clear as day as all three of them entered the house they had been using as base camp. He wasn't holding Judith at the moment, so Rick assumed she was with Carol. His older child rushed towards him quickly but stopped right in front of him.

"Carl." Rick stared at him for a few seconds, wanting to hug him but not wanting to upset him more than he was.

"What the hell was that for?"

"Carl." He repeated. Pausing for a couple moments, he spoke up again. "Sorry."

The younger Grimes raised the side of his mouth in contempt and looked away for a few seconds. Noticing the atmosphere, Glenn and Maggie left the room to give them some space.

"I really am, Carl. I don't know why I didn't bring anyone with me. I wasn't thinking."

"That's obvious." His son rolled his eyes. "You going to tell me why you left me here? I didn't know if you were okay or not. You left me here with Judith; no one knew where the hell you went to." Carl listed off reasons he was upset.

Rick looked away. "I had things I needed to do."

"Like what? You going to be all vague again?" Carl growled. "You always say things like that and then never tell anyone what the hell's going on."

The ex-deputy hated that. He knew that he sometimes kept things from the members of his pack, but everyone had secrets. However, he should be able to tell his own family what was going on. He didn't have to keep face with them all the time, but at the same time, he knew that at least Maggie and Glenn were definitely in the house. They could overhear what was actually going on, and he couldn't have that.

"Well? Dad?"

"There was something I had to get rid of." Rick knew that he was giving off more and more of a distressed scent, but he didn't try to stop it.

"Like what?" Carl remained unimpressed with his inexact answers. "Why can't you tell me what's going on? I'm not as young as I used to be; I can handle this sort of shit now."

Rick ran his hand over his face, thinking over his options. "I know that you're grown now, Carl. I just don't think I can right now."

If he was staring directly at his son, he would have seen his gaze soften and some sort of concern fill his eyes, but unfortunately, his eyes were focused on the floor. Carl was silent for what felt like an eternity, but eventually, Rick felt his son rush into him, wrapping his arms around his torso.

"I'm sorry, Carl."

"Don't do it again. You better tell me what is going on as soon as you can or whatever." As he let go, Rick could tell that he was still pissed and still hadn't completely forgiven him, and he didn't blame him for that. It seemed that he wasn't blaming anyone for anything recently, most likely because all the blame rested on him and his dumbass decisions.

He found himself on the couch of the living room later on. Carol had come back after a little while; she had been introducing herself and Judith to the Alexandrians, doing things that he knew he should be doing as well. But he couldn't find it in himself to care at that particular moment. There was only one problem occupying his mind. He ran over his plans once more; while outside the walls, he had considered knifing himself in the gut as soon as he was within the same walls as someone with medical knowledge, even if it was someone like Pete. He knew he shouldn't do that anymore. Not only would it seriously freak out everyone, but it would also cause him to lose any credibility he had as being a stable leader. The Alexandrians wouldn't trust him with anything, and his pack members would probably turn on him to, considering him to be in one of his 'weird' states. Plus, he couldn't do that to Carl. He was mad as hell as it was, so he didn't want to put him through any more stress.

Judith was a welcome distraction. Over the last day or so, he had found himself missing his daughter, so any interaction, even if she was pulling his hair or sucking on his fingers, was positive. Maggie, Glenn, Carl, and Carol were a few feet away, but Rick didn't feel up to joining their conversation. They said that the others should be returning quickly; Daryl had apparently given them the order for them to return at that time. The omega was glad to hear that; he didn't want his pack out there for that long. He was half tempted to leave the walls of Alexandria once more to look for them, to tell them that they can come back now, but there was no way anyone would let him do that, especially if he were to go by himself.

As expected, other members of their pack slowly filtered into the house. All of them were devoid of guns as per Deanna's instructions, but Rick knew that that was a problem for another day. Now, they were just dealing with the fallout of more of his stupid actions.

"The hell do you think you were doing?" Abraham demanded as soon as he saw the other man. "You could have been killed, you know?"

The omega stiffened at the abrupt statement. "Yes," he didn't exactly feel up to arguing with the alpha at that moment. "I know." His eyes didn't find anyone else's; instead, they were focused straight on the floor.

"Walkers are more attracted to omegas in heat, you know. You're lucky that you didn't get swarmed." The lecture continued, and despite being annoyed, Rick let him do it. He knew that this was the way he showed his concern.

Eventually, he zoned out again, and Abraham left him to his own devices once he figured that he had lost his attention. He knew that the pack was all waiting for answers; they wanted to know exactly why they just spent the last day of their life searching for him. He noticed people like Sasha, Michonne, Eugene, and more swim through his vision, but his eyes never brought them into clear focus.

He was jolted out of his reverie by someone else, flinching as they sat down next to him and touched him on the shoulder unexpectedly. It was Rosita. He looked her up and down, but it was clear that she was not going to start lecturing him like Abraham did. She wasn't that sort of alpha. He heard a few comments from some of the others in the room on his continued flinching; perhaps they hoped that he had lost that over the day of his adventure or whatever they wanted to call it.

She removed her hand quickly but did not stop staring at him. "What'd that doctor say to you anyway?" She raised an eyebrow. "You ran out fast after that."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"I think it does." Michonne spoke up loudly, loud enough to attract the omega's attention. She also was obviously unhappy with what he just pulled. "Rosita and Abraham said you left like a bat out of hell."

Rick didn't want to tell them the whole story. He couldn't tell them the whole story for obvious reasons. "He isn't a good man."

"He try to pull something on you?" Abraham gruffly asked. "I said you shouldn't go off by yourself. We don't know these alphas well."

"I can take care of myself." Suddenly, he felt a fire ignite deep inside of him. He always hated it when people treated him as weak or inferior due to his dynamic.

Carl raised an eyebrow, furious over what he insinuated. "What did he try to do?" His eyes burned into Rick's skull, and he knew that he had to answer his son. He didn't want any vague responses; Rick had to answer and answer well if he wanted to stay in his son's good graces at that time.

"He wouldn't help unless I did what he wanted me to do."

"And that was?"

"I don't know. Left pretty quickly after that."

Carol looked suspicious. "What was wrong with you anyway? Something bad enough that he can hold it over your head?"

"I am fixing it myself." Rick answered shortly and coldly. He didn't mean to use that tone of voice on his pack members, but why couldn't they just leave him alone when it was obvious that that was all he wanted?

"We can help you." Michonne reassured. "You don't have to do it alone."

"But I will."

The others tried to engage him in more conversation, but Rick didn't feel up to interrogation. The only person who was still absent was Daryl, ironically the person who gave them all the return time. Was it possible that he got into trouble? Did he run into the scavengers too? These thoughts filled his head until the alpha returned.

And return, he did. It was in the late hours of the night after he put Judith to bed. Daryl looked wildly around until he found Rick with his eyes. Everyone else paused what they were doing to stare at arguably the two strongest members of their pack.

"You. I got to talk to you. Alone." Daryl pulled on his arm, ignored his slight flinch, and led him away from the rest of the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!


	10. Daryl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl and Rick talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Daryl shot a warning glare to the other members of their pack as he pulled Rick away. No one was going to follow them. No one was going to eavesdrop on them, and he hoped he conveyed that clearly to them all. Naturally, they were all curious, but not everyone there knew what he knew. Soon afterwards, he closed a bedroom door behind the two of them and locked it.

The hunter sat down on the bed. "I know why you left."

Rick's blood turned to ice. "And why was that?" He needed to be sure of what he knew. After all, he wasn't about to just start talking about everything if he didn't have to.

"You were looking for something, anything to get rid of it." Daryl nodded towards the omega's midsection.

The ex-deputy bit his lip and turned away. All of his emotions were creeping up on him, but he wasn't about to let someone see Rick Grimes cry. Daryl knew exactly what was going on. He had always been one of the more perceptive people he had known, but he had hoped that he had believed his scent change was due to a heat. Apparently, there was no such luck.

Rick didn't respond to that statement and turned it on its head. "Listen, I am going to go clean up. Shave. You know..." He trailed off and shrugged. "I can deal with this on my own."

"The hell you can." The alpha stood and leant against the door to prevent his escape. "You had all of us scouring the woods looking for your stupid ass."

"Look, I know it was dumb. I've said sorry. I am going to deal with this on my own, and there is no need to involve anyone in this." He spoke clearer than he had in a very long time. There was a sort of fire behind his voice, one that hadn't shown through for a while.

Daryl shook his head. "Asking for help ain't a weakness, you know."

"Maybe not for you." Rick retorted sharply but didn't reach for the door knob yet.

"Because I'm an alpha?"

"Yes. People expect omegas to always need help. I am not about to live up to that stereotype."

The hunter grabbed him by the shoulder and didn't let go even as the other man flinched hard. "Once is not all the time. And that is a bullshit stereotype anyway; we know you by now. Our people ain't bad people."

"I know."

"Then why the hell aren't you letting us help you? You're leaving them in the dark. Some of them probably think you're dying." Daryl tried to meet Rick's gaze, but he never quite managed to catch it. "This can be fixed. It isn't worth stressing them out over."

"I said I can deal with it myself." Rick repeated firmly with a steely look in his eyes.

He was quiet for a short while after that, thinking things through but not letting the ex-cop out of the room. "You don't want to admit how it happened, do you?"

"I'm not talking about this right now."

"They already know that some bad shit went down before Terminus."

"I said I'm not talking about this right now." Rick shoved the alpha away from the door with more force than the other man was expecting.

The omega left him there, presumably to shave and return to a somewhat normal level of cleanliness. After all, Deanna was organizing a welcome party for their pack, and all of them needed to make a good impression. If they were ever going to listen to a word they had to say, they had to look approachable. Daryl rubbed his shoulder. Rick had really pushed him hard, but he wasn't about to complain about it. He supposed he shouldn't have been so tough on him. He had been through a lot over the last few weeks, but the hunter had never had a good role model to look to in order to learn to be more gentle. They all had secrets, and while it probably wasn't the best idea to encourage Rick to hide things from everyone, he obviously couldn't force the truth out of him.

He soon heard the shower turn on and took that as his cue to leave the room and rejoin the others. Upon his arrival, they all looked up in curiosity, wondering if he would spill anything from his conversation. Obviously, he wasn't about to annoy the omega even more than he already had, but that wouldn't stop of deluge of questions about to come his way.

"He's just been getting worse, hasn't he?" Michonne was the first to speak up, sharing a knowing look with Daryl. She had been there when the Claimers brutally assaulted their leader, so even if she didn't know the whole story, she knew more than most.

Maggie agreed with the other woman. "He hasn't run away like this before."

Carl shook his head. "He wasn't running away from anything. He was running to something."

Daryl considered the kid's words to be truer than most, but it made sense. He had known the omega his whole life. He knew him better than most. The hunter was honestly surprised he hadn't figured it out, surprised that none of them had figured it out. Rick's scent was the exact same as it had been when he was pregnant with Judith, only this time it was interrupted by a lot more distress.

"What's he running to?" Glenn inquired.

"I don't know." Daryl lied with ease. "He wouldn't tell me. Didn't want to talk about it."

"You think it's the same thing he's been stressed out over recently or something new?" The hunter could see the question pass through Michonne's eyes.

He sat down next to Maggie and crossed his legs on his lap. "Might be related." He shrugged.

Carol narrowed his eyes. "You two know what has been going on with him."

Damn, she was too good at this. "We ain't inside his head." Daryl commented, trying to stop himself from showing the truth on his face.

"But you guys were traveling together before Terminus, right?" Abraham raised an eyebrow and stared them down. "If something is wrong with him, we deserve to know what the fuck is going on, you hear me?"

"He can take care of himself." He found himself getting defensive. Abraham was a good man at heart, but he always involved himself in the affairs of the pack omega too frequently.

Sasha too looked concerned. Even if she was going through her own losses, she still wanted to help Rick. He had helped her so much in the past, and he didn't deserve any of the bullshit coming his way. "He's been flinching at a mere touch. Remember when he hit you right after you woke him up? Imagine what would happen if he hadn't been holding Judith. He would have gone for his gun, and before he would have realized that he wasn't in danger, it would be too late. If he doesn't get someone to help him soon, he could become a real threat to everyone, especially if he's been getting worse."

"I know." That wasn't a lie either. Rick could accidentally hurt someone really badly if things didn't turn up soon, and if he didn't get abortion, it wouldn't.

The trauma was corrupting their omega. Something had to be done that instant, but Daryl couldn't think of a safe way to go about it. He would think of something soon enough. He had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggestions and comments are welcome and appreciated!


	11. The Welcome Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deanna organized a welcome party for them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Rick wiped the mist off of the mirror and stared at his reflection. He knew that he didn't look great, even after shaving and taking a shower. Nothing would be able to hide the dark bags underneath of his eyes, not like the dirt and grime had. Like the rest of his pack, he looked gaunt; none of them had been eating enough recently. The ex-deputy didn't want to leave the bathroom. He'd have to face everyone, including Daryl, and that was the last thing he wanted to do at that point in time. They'd have questions; they always did.

He'd done his best to wash his clothes without leaving the safety of the room, but they took a long time to dry. Guilt pricked at him as he thought of what the rest of his pack must be thinking. There were more than one bathroom in the house, so he wasn't hogging all their resources. But it felt like he was hiding, hiding from them right after they had found him. And while he was on the run, he had seen things, things the rest of the pack should know about. Hell, even Deanna and the rest of the Alexandrians should know, but he doubted that they would do anything to stop the scavengers. He had come across some of their type before. They would not stop, not unless they were taken care of in a way he doubted Deanna would approve of.

Eventually, after what must have been many hours, he looked up from where he had sat on the floor. He had been brooding once more, but his clothes had finally dried to a point where he could wear them. He heard someone knock on the door, a short three reps. He jumped and reached for his gun, but it wasn't there.

"What?" Rick took a second to calm down. The only ones who were in this house to the best of his knowledge were his pack, and he doubted they trusted anyone else to let them intrude on their space just yet. It had quickly become their territory.

"Can I come in?" It was Carol. "I need to talk to you."

"Why?"

"I just do."

The woman was tough and fierce, but he knew that she could be gentle and motherly when it called for it. There was no sharp edges in her voice. His skin crawled as he noticed it. She too thought that something was wrong with him. Hell, they probably all did, but he didn't like how they were all walking an egg shells around him. He could deal with all their bite and their anger. He deserved to take the brunt of their ferocity.

The door handle jiggled a little bit, but Rick had locked it, not that that would have stopped any of them anyway. It might slow them down a bit, but over the years, they all had become competent in picking locks. It wasn't like that one was particularly difficult either. When the door finally opened, he expected to see more than one person, but it was just Carol. They must have discussed this beforehand. They knew that he had had problems dealing with large groups recently, even if it was just his pack. He didn't like being the only omega, and he didn't like being outnumbered. He had spent years building up walls to hide his inner feelings, but they had been cracking for a long while now. It was rare for people to get the better of him, even rarer for them to succeed in assaulting him. Normally, they were killed before they got that close.

Carol closed the door behind her and sat down next to him. "Now, I know that I haven't been part of the pack very much lately. I only just got back, but I know you well enough still to know when something's wrong."

She was using a voice that she normally used on children. Rick hated it. He could feel how she was trying to get information out of him by sugar-coating everything she said. He tensed hard and stared at her with equal force, but she didn't stand down. She had grown a lot over the years and became a stronger beta since her abusive husband died, since her precious daughter died, since everything that went wrong in her life.

Rick, however, still felt more comfortable with her than he would with someone like Maggie or Glenn. They had known each other for about the same amount of time and struggled in similar ways, but she knew pain like he did. She knew what it was like to be forced to submit to an alpha or suffer the consequences. While he was aware of the possibility that something might have gone on when Maggie and Glenn were with the Governor (he didn't know all the details for certain), he still wasn't comfortable around them. Well, he wasn't comfortable around Carol per se, but at the same time, he wasn't as uncomfortable as he normally was when near others.

After a few moments of silence, Carol spoke again. "I'm not sure what happened or even when it happened, but something went wrong. You're becoming dangerous, Rick."

"I know."

"Then, why don't you let us help you try to fix it?"

"I can fix it on my own." Rick glared at her again. "Once the problem is taken care of, everything will go back to normal."

Carol breathed in deeply, taking in his scent, and she narrowed her eyes. "Even if it is taken care of, whatever trauma caused it will still remain."

"They're dead. They're gone."

"But any associations will stay. You have been more wary of people as if you are concerned that we are going to attack you too."

"Carol, they were going to kill Carl and Michonne after they were done with me."

She inhaled again as if she was fact-checking what she had deduced last time. "This isn't heat."

"No," he agreed. "Don't tell anyone."

The beta woman froze for a few seconds. "All right, I won't, but they're still going to want to know what the hell is going on with you."

Rick expected that she knew much more than she was letting on. Neither of them had specifically mentioned what sort of attack it had been, but there was only one type that could leave him in such a predicament.

He had eventually come out of the bathroom about an hour after Carol did. There hadn't been much conversation after that, and Rick knew that he had to be at the welcoming party if anyone was going to take him seriously. No one in the pack asked him any questions once he came out, but none of them looked at him oddly either. He took that as evidence that Carol hadn't told them anything.

At the party, Rick tried his best to stick to the sidelines. It would look weird if he didn't show up at all, but he wasn't about to go straight to the center. Even if he was technically the leader of their pack, he didn't want that kind of attention from all the Alexandrians, especially Pete. There were many things wrong with that man, and the omega was sure that he had only touched the tip of that iceberg.

Rick had accepted the alcohol offered to him regardless of what Pete thought. He balanced Judith on his hip, and his eyes flicked to the doctor. He seemed to be staring into his soul. Upon noticing that he got his attention, he approached him in a way similar to how a predator would approach their prey. Pete had a fake smile on his face, but it was a good enough hoax that no one but him noticed.

Thankfully, there was no one paying attention to their conversation.

"You really shouldn't be drinking that, you know." The doctor warned him, holding up his finger threateningly.

"It'll be gone soon. I don't care." Rick looked away from the man in an attempt to show that he was not interested in the conversation. Unfortunately, that left the side of his neck and hence, his scent glands, exposed.

Pete inhaled the omega's scent deeply, and the ex-deputy snapped his neck back to attention, covering the area with his shirt collar.

"You know, if there is an actual problem with you, you can still come to me as a patient or if you just want my company." A deep, rumbling sound came from the back of the alpha's throat. "I haven't had an omega expose their scent glands to me for a long time."

"It wasn't intentional." Rick made out through grit teeth.

Pete laughed and made to clap him on the shoulder, but Rick was quick. He dodged the hand and reached for his belt, but alas, his gun had been taken upon arrival in Alexandria. He stood back up a few feet away and adjusted his hold on his daughter.

"I don't think many people would approve of how irresponsible you are being." He tutted. "It's been a long time since we have had any youth being brought in. To keep the community alive, isn't that something that is necessary? Propagation? If anyone here knew that you were planning on murdering a child, especially a child that would be an Alexandrian, I doubt they would be all right with it."

"They don't understand. You don't understand." He gripped his belt hard with one hand and held his daughter with another. If both were occupied, he would be unlikely to 'accidentally' punch him.

"What I understand is that something good is coming out of a bad situation. Everyone has trials in their life, and through beating them, God rewards us. This baby could be his gift to you, and it is my job to make sure you see that." The doctor had disgust in his eyes, but he was speaking as if he was trying to talk him down from a roof or something. "We could bring this to Father Gabriel. He was with you guys, right? I'll take it he knows of this situation."

Rick shook his head. "This is my problem, not anyone else's."

"The only problem is how misguided you are." Pete frowned. "So, your pack doesn't know? I doubt they'd appreciate you keeping secrets from them. Are you afraid that they'd notice how you are planning to murder one of their kind?"

The good thing about bringing Judith was that he had a viable excuse to leave. "Judith's getting tired. We're going to head back."

"Very well," the doctor smiled at him, but that too was false. "I look forward to speaking with you again!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!


	12. Deanna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the welcome party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing! Sorry for the long update my life is a shit show

That night, Rick dreamed of death. When he was younger, more innocent, he had devoted his life to catching murderers, rapists, and other criminals. Now, he was no better than them. Sure, he had to kill the walkers, but the blood of the living was on his hands too: the blood of cannibals, thieves, and friends. It was that of the latter which was heavy on his mind that moment.

If he had acted differently, maybe Shane and Lori would still be around. If he was stronger, maybe Hershel and Beth would still be around. If he wasn't a fucking omega, maybe none of them would have died. Perhaps it had been a mistake making him the leader of the pack. It wasn't like he was doing much leading nowadays, and he had made so many shit decisions during that time. Regardless of that, the others, all betas and alphas, looked to him for guidance and leadership. He couldn't afford to be weak around them, any of them. And now that they were in Alexandria, he couldn't afford to act like an omega in the slightest if he wanted to be taken seriously.

As far as he knew, Pete hadn't shared his secret yet, but he would eventually. If he decided that Rick was putting it in too much peril, he would probably run to Deanna or maybe even another member of his pack to try to convince him to keep and accept it. The doctor had seen him drinking during the welcoming party; did that classify as enough of a danger? Maybe he was spilling all of Rick's secrets as he slept.

He dreamed of the reddest blood he had ever seen. The living always had brighter colored blood; that of the walkers became more of a brownish color if they even had any at all. Rick had killed before in the past, but never had he allowed the most animalistic and primal parts of his brain through until that night. What sort of modern omega ripped someone's throat out with their own teeth? That sort of barbarism was seen in animals, especially feral ones. He tried to convince himself that he had no choice, that it was the only option, but he hadn't thought anything through at the time. All he knew was that the strange and abusive alpha was threatening his pup, and then, instinct took over.

The majority of the pack were asleep in that living room, still uncomfortable with separating themselves. Even after the party, they still had their suspicions about the Alexandrians. They would be safer together. Maggie and Glenn were keeping watch at the moment, and even in his unconscious state he could hear them murmuring and smell their familiar scents.

They were right in that he was getting dangerously unstable. An abortion would solve all of that though, right? All of the Claimers were dead, so there would be nothing else to remind him of that assault. It might not be immediate, but he would once again be able to make decisions and be trusted by his pack. He was almost glad that he had to give up his gun for a moment. It of course left them defenseless against attacks, but Rick did not want to know what he was capable of doing with his Colt if someone snuck up on him. He had a feeling that the entire group knew what would happen.

He had to focus on something else, had to stop him from revealing his secret to others. They would treat him differently, look at him differently, and act differently around him. But he wasn't the only one Pete had treated badly over the years. No, there was his wife as well, Jessie. She was a sweet beta woman, but there was a darkness in her life that only few could pick up on. Carol obviously did as she had had similar experiences in the past, and Rick had as well. Being an omega, he was more in tune with the emotions of others, and he was wired to notice any bad alphas. If anyone was a bad alpha, it was Pete.

Leaving Judith with Carl, he made his way towards the door. The rest of his pack raised their eyes as he walked by, and Abraham stood up, jogged over, and put his hand on the door to prevent him from leaving.

"Where are you going? You gonna run out on us again?" He was a bigger man that Rick was, and his body loomed over him.

"Abraham-" Rosita gave him a warning glare, but it was ignored.

"I'm going to see Deanna." The omega responded plainly, not amused by the alpha's actions.

The red-headed man frowned. "One of us should come with you."

"Why?" Rick met his eyes. They glittered with a ferocity no one had seen in a while. He had things he needed to do, and no one would stop him from doing so just because he was an omega.

"Las' time you went out on your own we had to go looking for you. You said that doctor fella was messing with you."

"That doesn't mean that I need someone to escort me."

Daryl stood up and growled, seemingly done with their argument. All eyes in the room flitted to the head alpha of the pack. "Rick can go by himself."

"Daryl-"

"Let him go."

Abraham huffed a little but released the door, allowing for Rick to slip outside and head towards the Alexandrian leader's house. It was nice, certainly less crowded than the one their pack was stubbornly holed up in. She opened her front door a few moments after the omega knocked on it, and a smile lit up her face.

"Rick! I haven't seen you out in a while." Deanna paused awkwardly, remembering his escapade outside the walls. They didn't know each other very well, but Deanna could see a distressed omega from a mile away as she used to be involved in omegan rights during her political career. "Where is Judith?"

"Carl has her right now. Can I speak with you about something? Two things, actually." Rick glanced over his shoulder for a moment, convinced that someone from his pack might have followed him regardless of what Daryl said.

"Yes, of course."

The two of them made their way into her living room and sat down. There was a slight musty smell in the air, but he blamed the humidity for that.

"What can I do for you?" The alpha woman inquired.

"While I was...out, I saw something concerning." He paused. "There is another pack nearby, a dangerous one. They call themselves 'the Wolves.'"

Deanna nodded her head a bit but didn't seem too concerned. "These walls will keep us safe. Just stay inside, and you'll be fine." She figured that he was stressed about the possible threat to him, his children, and his pack.

"No, I don't think they will. They're scavengers. They'll come at us, steal everything they think is useful, and kill everyone they find." Rick responded. "Those walls won't stop them."

"How do you suppose they will get in then?"

"All it takes is one mistake, one slip up. Alexandria seems to have been lucky thus far, but it is a dangerous world out there. Desperate people will resort to desperate measures, and if they feel like it would be profitable to take down that wall, they will find a way. Plus, it would put all of the runners in danger every time they go out."

She hesitated for a second. "They are allowed weapons when they leave. It's for self defense of course."

"Are they trained? Do they have the same experiences as them? To the best of my knowledge, this pack is big, big enough to take out a normal sized group of runners."

"I appreciate your concern, but we have always done it this way here at Alexandria. We've never had a problem before, and our walls have never been invaded like you say they will." Deanna reassured him.

Rick shook his head. "You can't say that they won't in the future. What if something like that happens? The people within these walls barely know how to hold a gun. They need to be trained for the eventuality that those walls may someday fail."

"If everyone here had guns, Rick, arguments could escalate into bloodshed very quickly." The leader explained. "I can't have someone firing a weapon over a simple dispute."

"Then, they also need to learn some responsibility with their weapons. Do you really think that these walls are infallible? That you know everything that is going on on the outside? People can find guns, explosives, and more, and I'm betting that all it would take is one explosive to knock down that wall of yours."

Deanna sighed, realizing that the new member of Alexandria would not be quelled by her words. "I'll think about it. What was your other concern?"

"Your doctor. Pete." Rick started, and the leader stiffened in response. He narrowed his eyes but continued nevertheless. "He ain't treating Jessie right, I can tell. Carol can too. He's also been treating me strangely in ways that no omega would appreciate under the circumstances." He wanted to say more, to really dig into the guy, but he also wanted to keep his secrets close to his chest.

"Jessie and Pete have had their difficulties in the past, yes, but he is our only doctor here, Rick. We need him."

"You already know how he is treating her? He's abusive!"

The alpha woman looked away. "I wish the circumstances were different, so I could intervene without losing him. But I can't, Rick. Alexandria needs a doctor, and he's all we have." She took a breath before continuing. "How has he been treating you?"

"He refused to give me the help I needed, and now, he has private information on me that he could use against me one day. He's making choices for me that he has no business in making. He has made sexual advances on me that were unappreciated and not consensual, and he tried to blackmail me with the private information he has in order to get me to have sex with him."

"I'm sorry he's been doing that to you." Deanna bit her lip. "I would cast him out given everything that he has done, but we have no other doctor. Perhaps someday if we get another, I'll be able to take action."

Rick cast her a shady look. "Are you the leader? Or is he? You aren't the one in control of this decision right now, I'll tell you that."

She bristled a little bit, not liking the suggestion that the other alpha was actually the head, but didn't say anything on that at the moment. "Is there anything else you needed right now, Rick?"

The omega didn't respond, instead choosing to stare at her for a few moments before turning tail and walking briskly out of the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!


	13. Resurgence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick leaves Deanna's house and finds something to distract him from his own pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing! Sorry for the crazy updating times. Due to covid, my college has condensed the entire semester down, so I'm actually in the middle of finals fml
> 
> HEADS UP! More changes to the storyline in this chapter.

Upon leaving Deanna's house, Rick looked left and right, the hairs on his arm beginning to stand up. Something was not right, more so than usual. His hand gripped the area of his belt that normally held his gun, but of course, it was not there. He set out quickly, wanting to return to the pack's territory as soon as possible. While he was not normally one to run from a fight, if something happened out there, even if he won whatever skirmish occurred, there was no way Abraham would let him out of his sight ever again. The red-headed alpha was over-bearing; he reminded Rick a lot of some of the alphas he knew growing up. He meant well, of course, but the omega was fiercely independent.

Despite his instincts knowing something was wrong, he could not for the life of him figure out what it was. The Alexandrians he saw were all behaving normally. He saw that the gate was closed, and there was someone on guard. There was no one hostile in the arsenal that he saw. It seemed just to be a typical day in Alexandria to the best of his knowledge, but he knew something was up. He did his best to keep his concerns to himself; it seemed that no one in Alexandria took any of those seriously. Now, the house his pack had settled in was far enough from Deanna's place that Rick would have to cross the majority of the colony, but he didn't mind that. He was a bit concerned about how the danger seemed to get more and more present as he moved along. 

Perhaps the wall had broken somewhere? He knew it had to happen sometime, but every patch of the wall he could see remained up. He frowned, still concerned about the possibility of a breach. If there was one, walkers--or worse, living--could enter Alexandria, and with the scavengers out and about, he knew that the danger that posed was high. The Wolves would steal everything they had and kill everyone they saw. They would strip Alexandria of everything that it was and leave a hollowed out shell full of walkers in their wake.

He veered off course, moving towards the wall. It would be best to make sure that the wall in its entirety remained upright. Then, maybe he would be at peace. All the panels were intact though. There were no holes, no tunnels dug underneath of it. Nevertheless, he walked alongside of it, diligent in his patrol. In the end, he was glad that he did.

There was a girl, an alpha climbing the wall. She seemed to be just about the same age as Carl, and she maneuvered up it in a way that Rick knew came from repeated practice. This was not the first time this young pup had done this. Why was she sneaking out? She did not have a gun on her. There were too many dangers in the world outside the walls for her to go out alone, especially unarmed. There were walkers, people, those scavengers too. It was too dangerous for anyone to be by themselves; he had learned that lesson earlier.

"Hello?" Rick looked up at her, watched her pause in surprise. So she hadn't noticed him approaching. "What's your name?" He took a more passive role in his approach. If she fell, she would be injured no doubt, and if she continued climbing and escaped, she would be in even more danger.

The young girl did not respond to him, only stared at him for a few moments before looking back to the wall.

"It isn't safe out there alone." He spread his scent out towards her. It wasn't something he did often, but he felt like it was a good idea under the circumstances.

She continued climbing.

Rick sighed, knowing that there would be no stopping her. He gripped some handholds on the wall and lifted himself up too. "I can't make you stay, but I'm not letting you go out alone."

The unknown girl seemed irritated with him, Rick knew this very well. She looked down with him, glaring with such a ferocity that he knew she was trying to make him submit and leave. He wouldn't.

"Aren't you the omega who ran away anyway? Just leave me alone."

"It's dangerous out there."

"Yeah, I know."

She was silent after that but made no more attempts to make him leave her alone. Rick soon reached the top of the wall and found that she had waited for him on the other side.

"Why are you following me?" She put it bluntly.

"I can't in my right mind let a pup out here by themselves." Rick shook his head.

The alpha pup scoffed. "And you think your presence will make it so much safer? You don't even have a gun."

While this was true, Rick did have a few knives with him, concealed on his thighs. Knives were a silent weapon, but they did require him to get within closer range of any walkers to kill them.

"Neither do you." 

She rolled her eyes and turned away, stalking quickly into the woods beyond her. Rick was fast to catch up. He made no attempts at conversation, but he knew that he would deeply regret it if he left this girl alone and something happened to her, something that he could have prevented.

"You're Carl's ma, aren't you? He's been doing the same creepy shit as you."

"I'm his sire."

"Whatever."

She jumped over a root and abruptly turned directions, seemingly with no reason at all. Rick didn't blame her; sometimes, it was nice just to wander. It was obvious that this was not her first time out anyway, so she probably knew exactly where she was going.

"What's your name?"

The girl glared at him for a few seconds before responding. "Enid."

"Enid." Rick repeated. "I'm Rick."

"I don't care."

"You've spoken to my son, I understand?"

Enid didn't look back at him. "Yeah, he's annoying as shit, just like you."

It was obvious she was trying to chase him off, to dissuade him from following her. He wouldn't though. He couldn't. This must be the danger he had felt earlier, but he did not know why it was specifically dangerous. He still felt that unease in the air around him. Was she going to be attacked? Killed? He didn't know, and he didn't want to find out.

"Why did you leave?"

She didn't respond to him.

"I sense danger nearby." He mentioned, hoping that that would trigger some amount of concern in the pup.

It didn't.

"There's always danger outside the walls."

"Then, why do you leave them?"

"The world is meant for people." Enid slowly started talking. She knew that she would not be doing this if any other adult had found her, but Rick was an omega. That made all the difference. He was a more comforting presence. He felt more like her dad, who was also neither alpha nor beta. "We are not meant to be imprisoned within the walls."

The omega understood this on a deep level. He too did not like to be caged; he too shared the same need for independence as she did. "Very well. You should still take as many precautions as you can though. It is dangerous to be alone."

"You ran away all by yourself not to long ago; I wouldn't be saying that."

"And that was a very stupid decision on my part." Rick replied quickly.

She looked him up and down. "I do not see any injuries. You're fine."

"That does not mean that that will always be the case. There are others out here, living people. They're incredibly dangerous, and I nearly did not escape them last time."

Enid paused for a moment. "What sort of people?"

"Scavengers."

"And let me guess, you ran away from them too?"

Rick nodded, hating the way she had worded it, but it was nonetheless true. "I was outnumbered. I would not have survived the encounter."

"You don't know that."

"I fairly certain of it. My pack and I have come across a large amount of dangerous people in our time."

"And they are more dangerous than the dead?"

"Very much so." Rick acknowledged her question with a nod of his head. "They think more. They're more desperate. Clever. Manipulative."

"And they are nearby?"

"Yes."

Enid grumbled a bit under her breath. "It would be no less dangerous in those walls. You shouldn't try to convince me to stay within them."

"I am well aware that Alexandria is not 100% safe, but it is safer than out here."

"And I can't spend my entire life hiding inside of them. What sort of alpha would that make me?"

Rick sighed. "Listen, you're young. You don't have a gun. From what I can tell, you are packless."

"I have Olivia."

He paused for a moment. "Something happened to your pack, didn't it?"

"That's none of your business."

The omega nodded and fell silent. That was fair enough.

"You know, before this all started, I was a cop."

Enid looked him up and down in doubt. "You?"

"Yes," he knew that his omegan scent alone was enough to make that statement hard to believe. "We had partners then. Someone to always watch our six. Now, the world is way more dangerous than back then, so there is no reason to abandon the practice. Understand?"

"You just don't think I can handle myself."

"No, that's not it. Hell, I bet you can handle yourself better than most of those people back in Alexandria." Rick commented.

"'Course I can. They never lived outside before."

The ex-deputy nodded his head in agreement. "See? You're plenty capable. I'm not trying to hold you down, but you need to stick with someone. What if something happened to you?"

"No one would notice. I don't talk to people there."

"I bet Olivia would notice that you were missing." Rick pointed out. "And you should talk to people more often. When the walls inevitably go to shit, you'll need some allies, and if no one knows you, they might not want you as theirs."

Enid's eyes were pointedly focused on the woods in front of her; she never looked back, not even for a second. "I can handle myself, Rick. I've done so for a long time."

"You shouldn't need to." Rick responded. "All that stress'll kill you."

"If I live long enough for it too." She scoffed. "Do you really expect any of us will make it long enough to die of a stress-induced heart attack or something?"

The omega shook his head. "No, unfortunately not, but living with that stress does not make your life pleasant."

"Life isn't meant to be pleasant, not anymore." Enid fought back.

"It can be so much more than you think it can."

"And what, you're a bucket of sunshine? Look at yourself, man! You're practically a dead man walking." She sneered at him. "I know there's something off about you. Everyone at Alexandria does. No one just runs away like you did."

Rick paused for a minute, well aware that she was throwing his problems in his face out of self-defense. Didn't hurt any less though. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind, trying not to focus on that aspect of the past. He didn't want to feel those hands touching him, to hear that voice that never seemed to leave.

He looked up. Enid was walking away again, seemingly trying to leave him in the dust.

"Don't you get it? I don't want you around." She looked even more frustrated as soon as he caught up with her.

"And I don't want you out here alone." Rick looked at her. "No one knows you do this, right? Otherwise, you'd leave out the gate. They would never know what happened to you."

She rolled her eyes once more. "I don't care."

"I'm sure Olivia does."

"I just live with her, okay? She ain't my mother." Enid snarled at him, pushing her scent out to him. She was again trying to make him submit, trying to scare him off. And again, he wouldn't let her.

They walked along in silence once more. Slowly, the sun moved in the sky. By now, Rick imagined that the pack would be looking for him once more. They wouldn't be happy that he left without telling someone, but he couldn't just leave her to venture outwards on her own. By the time he had told someone or gotten his Colt, she would have disappeared in the trees. He closed his eyes, trying not to think about what the other members of his pack would be thinking about him right now. Perhaps now they were all siding with Abraham. They knew he wasn't as stable as he would like to be, but he couldn't ignore this pup, one that so desperately needed someone to be with her.

Enid paused for a second, causing Rick to free himself from his thoughts. There were growls in the distance.

"Walkers." He whispered. "You got a weapon?"

She shook her head. Rick's eyes widened. He couldn't believe at first that she left without a gun, but she didn't have a knife either? She must have some sort of death wish. Even if she didn't, it was clear that she didn't love herself enough.

The omega slipped one knife out for himself and another for her. "Here. Take this."

"We can just hide and wait for them to leave." She motioned towards a small hole underneath a nearby rock.

"That won't work." Rick shook his head. "It would corner us." He hissed lowly, and the growls slowly grew louder.

Enid's face gradually grew more fearful. "We don't know how many there are!" Her voice was quiet.

"It doesn't sound like too many." He reassured her. "I assume you've killed before."

"Of course I have." She puffed out her chest a bit. "I'm not a complete pup."

Rick nodded his head. "Stay behind me anyway." His instincts went wild with every step the dead took closer to the two of them. This was someone's pup he was protecting right now. He couldn't let her die.

"I wouldn't have even come this way if not for you." She cursed under her breath. "Why did you have to follow me?"

"Danger would have found you no matter where you went." The omega advised.

After what felt like ages, the walkers burst through the brush, and Rick instantly attacked. There were six of them, and if he could take some out before they all ganged up on them, it would be better. They were all in various stages of decomposition, but the omega did his best to ignore the disgust that surged through his body. He thought he was used to the smell of death from being a cop and from living in this hell, but it remained as revolting as the first day he encountered it.

He quickly got rid of two and heard the sound of another hitting the dirt from where Enid was standing. Good. She was defending herself and did not go into her hole. He doubted she would have left him to fend for himself anyway, but she was young.

There were three remaining. He threw himself at another one, wanting to exterminate the danger as soon as possible. Maybe this would convince Enid to turn back. The walker fell easily under his relentless assault.

He turned back to Enid, where the two remaining walkers stood. The young alpha backed up a bit, trying to give herself more room, but there was a root in her way. She didn't notice it, but before Rick could warn her it was too late. She tripped and fell, the knife clattering to the dirt a few feet from her.

The omega within him let out a high-pitched whine, something that he never did. It made him feel weak to do so, but it got the attention of the two walkers. They turned to him. He backed up slightly, continuing to draw them away from Enid before once again striking.

He went to deal with the one on the right first. Its face was nearly completely decomposed, leaving the threatening teeth exposed to the air around him. He gripped his knife hard and went to drive it into the walker's skull when he heard Enid's deep growl. He had heard enough of those coming from Daryl and Abraham in his time, but he hadn't anticipated her doing so. She had retrieved her knife, and Rick was confident in her ability to defend herself. He went back to the walker he was fighting.

"Rick, look out!" Her voice came from behind him, and as he turned to look, the young pup's knife flashed in his face. Then, the most pained scream he had ever heard coming from the pup.

He killed his walker as soon as he could and turned around to see what happened. Enid had eventually killed the final one of the dead, but she was gripping her arm and sobbing. Rick instinctively sent out his scent to her, anything to calm her down and let him know what was going on. As he got closer, he did.

There was blood all over her arm, the red blood of the living, not the brownish one of the dead. She was bleeding. The walker had gotten her, bit her.

"I'm gonna die." She gripped her arm and swayed back and forth on her knees.

For how much she talked tough, Rick knew that she feared death. He dropped the knife in his hand, the one contaminated by walker blood and knelt next to her. The bite wound was on her right forearm.

She had gotten it right after she warned him. She had gotten it while defending him from the walker.

"Oh my God, I'm gonna die just like my parents." Her skin was losing color quickly. She was going into shock.

His scent seemed to be doing nothing to calm her down, but he ignored that. He grasped her arm quickly and pulled her up hard.

"No!" She screamed at him, barring her teeth with a level of feral, primitive rage he had not seen from her before. "No, leave me alone, you stupid, stupid omega." She hit him with her good arm hard. "I'm going to die anyway."

"You're not gonna die." No matter how hard she fought, Rick was stronger than the pup and wrestled her near the rock she had pointed out earlier.

"No! I've been bit, Rick. Don't let me become one of them!" Enid pleaded with him. "I don't want to be one of them."

The omega rubbed his wrist against the side of her neck, thoroughly scenting her. "You're gonna be just fine, Enid." 

He wrenched the bitten arm onto the rock beside him and slipped the third and final knife out of his pants. The other two lay forgotten on the dirt floor of the woods. The alpha pup seemed to not notice what he was doing. Her face was pale with shock, and she repeated the words 'I'm gonna die' over and over and over again. Her face was wet with tears that came pouring out of her eyes, and Rick had not seen a pup as distressed as her in a very long time. He turned back to the arm and gripped the knife firmly in his hand, raised it, and brought it down as hard as he could.

The scream that followed was louder than the one before, and Rick looked behind him cautiously, making sure that they weren't attracting any other unwelcome visitors.

The young girl's right arm had fallen off the rock, completely detached from the rest of her body. Blood oozed out of the new wound his quick amputation had made, and the pup was still screaming and crying.

Swallowing hard, he gathered the girl in his arms and bolted as fast as he could back to Alexandria.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggestions and comments are welcome and appreciated.


	14. The Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick and Enid return to Alexandria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

"I told you we shouldn't have let the fucker go off on his own again." Abraham scowled deeply. It had been roughly two hours since Rick had left to talk to Deanna, and he had not yet returned. Whatever discussion the omega had intended to have with the leader of the community would not last that long. "The first time should have been our warning."

"Rick is one of the most independent men I have ever met." Daryl started. "It would have only pissed him off more if one of us was tailing him."

His face grew red. "But he wouldn't have disappeared again! He literally just came back. And Maggie and Glenn had to track him down for him to do so!"

The pack had searched Alexandria before deciding that he was missing naturally. His scent had gone slightly stale, and there was no evidence that he remained within the walls. Deanna herself had told them that the omega had left her place about an hours and forty-five minutes prior. A lot could have happened in that time.

"We don't know why he left this time." Carl interjected. "He did seem pretty sorry about it earlier....And he knew that going off alone was a stupid thing to do."

"Everyone else in Alexandria is accounted for." Sasha mentioned. "Deanna said that the only one who would be out right now is Aaron, so he would have to have gone by himself."

The younger alpha male shook his head. "Enid's missing."

"Who?"

"A girl my age. She disappears for long stretches of time apparently; maybe Rick is with her."

Michonne entered the room, shaking her head. "Nicholas--the current guard--said that no one had gone through the gates."

"So he must have found another way." Daryl frowned and scratched at the stubble on his face. "Why wouldn't he just go out the gates?"

"'Cause people would've stopped him, that's why." Abraham growled. "They know now that he's a flight risk."

The hunter conceded that that could be the reason. It did make sense. "We going to look for him or what?" He stood, slinging his crossbow across his shoulder. "Michonne, you're with me."

The samurai nodded her head and turned towards the door as well. "It'd be better to find him sooner rather than later. I don't want him out in the dark again."

"I'm coming too." Carl made his way for the door, but Daryl held out his hand to get him to stop.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

This, of course, made the younger alpha snarl at the older man. "And why's that? I'm old enough."

"I don't think the Alexandrians would like someone your age going out."

"Fuck them. It's my dad."

Abraham snorted behind him. "Kid's got a point."

Daryl grumbled a bit to himself but realized that the younger alpha wasn't about to let this one go. "Fine."

The three of them had gotten outside of Alexandria fairly easily although they were looking at them with a bit of disdain over letting Carl out. Daryl thought that was hilarious actually. He knew very well that the kid could defend himself much better than the adults around here. They just wanted him to stay do to their desire to protect one that they thought was vulnerable. Too bad, that sort of thinking did not fly anymore.

As expected, Rick's scent was no where near the gate, but Carl picked it up near one of the walls.

"He must've climbed over it." He stated. "Enid's scent is here too."

"You think he followed her?" Michonne asked.

Carl nodded his head in agreement and confirmation. "Enid disappears all the time. If Dad saw her climbing over the fence, I doubt he would let her go off by herself."

"So he wasn't necessarily running away after all." Daryl smirked a bit. Take that Abe.

It hadn't rained since the two had left, so their scent was relatively easy to track. They took a lot of seemingly random twists and turns, almost like they were trying to get someone lost, but thankfully, their scents were getting stronger. They hoped to run into them soon.

They didn't think that Rick would run into them.

"What the hell happened?" Daryl looked him up and down. The omega was covered in blood, and so was the girl he was carrying.

"She got bit. Had to cut her arm off."

Carl's eyes went wide as he eyed the bloody wound on the other alpha pup. Obviously, they hadn't considered that one of them might need an amputation out in the field. It hadn't been treated right.

"Come on," Daryl pulled the omega in the general direction of Alexandria. "It's faster this way."

Soon enough, Enid ended up in Daryl's arms after he decided that the injuries Rick had sustained earlier were slowing him down. The omega had tensed a bit when it was mentioned, but at least no one who didn't already know of their existence was nearby. He was annoyed that the hunter didn't think he was strong enough, angry to be separated from an injured youth, but the pup's life was in danger. They could hash that out later.

Daryl was glad that no one else had left to look for Rick yet. He had told them that only one group would leave, but if they were not back by nightfall, feel free to go searching.

The hunter was the first to arrive back at the gates, Michonne close behind him as she was responsible for defending him from attacks while he was occupied with carrying the girl. Carl had decided to stay back with Rick when his still-healing wounds started to bother him.

Nicholas's eyes widened as soon as he saw the bloody mess that was Enid's arm. "What the fuck--"

"Rick's still out there with Carl. They'll be back soon." Daryl didn't waste any time approaching the doctor's house. He wasn't Rick, wasn't a pregnant omega, so with any luck, there would be no incidents during this encounter with the man. The alpha knew that Rick didn't trust him at all, but he was still the best bet Enid had at this point.

There was shouting coming from that house, a lot of it. The other Alexandrians regarded the house warily but did not seemed too surprised by it; they were surprised, however, by the injured pup. It was just another piece of evidence that they were ignorant to the world outside the walls. They would have seen shit like this if they weren't living idly in here. They would have been experienced.

Michonne, carrying the lighter load, reached the door first and knocked on it. Instantly, the shouting ceased, and the beta woman--Jessie, Daryl thought her name was-- opened the door. Her hair was tussled, and their was clearly a bruise developing on her right wrist. Daryl snarled. He'd have to deal with that later. He hadn't been sure what exactly about that man was off based off of Rick's report. He hadn't been exactly forthcoming, but now, it was clear as day.

Just like everyone else, Jessie's eyes widened in shock as she took in the state of the child. "Pete!" She shouted hard. "Enid needs you!"

At the sound of her name, there was some commotion upstairs, and that seemed to also startle the beta woman.

"He'll be in as soon as he can." She turned her attention to the stairs. "Ron? Don't come down right now, okay? Keep Sam upstairs!"

The samurai of the pack had left soon after, sensing that she was no longer needed. She needed to report back to the pack anyway, tell them what exactly had gone down. Hopefully, if she got that out of the way, they wouldn't be too hard on the omega once he returned. Michonne knew that Rick didn't need that additional stress in his life right now.

Pete had Enid on the table as soon as he saw her, seeing the urgency of the situation. "How did this happen?"

"Enid climbed over the walls. Rick saw her, followed. She got bit by a walker, and Rick had to cut her arm off to prevent her from turning." Daryl kept it short, wanting to convey the necessary information to the man but not wanting to talk to him at the same time. Regardless of what he was about to say, the hunter wasn't about to leave Enid alone with him. To the best of his knowledge, his abuse wouldn't spread to her, but he didn't want to take that risk.

And he didn't want to know what Rick would do if he did.

"And Rick is not here because?" The doctor was quick to get to work, but he still kept up the conversation.

Daryl scoffed. Trust Pete to want to know what the omega was up to. "I'm faster."

"I see." Pete didn't look up at him, doing as much as he can to stop the bleeding. Daryl didn't know exactly how long it had been since the amputation, but even he knew that she had lost a lot of blood. It would take a while for her body to replenish it. Alexandria didn't exactly keep bags of blood lying around for transfusions, and they didn't know Enid's blood type anyway.

There was silence for a few moments.

"Even with his own problems, he still cares for a pup, one that isn't even his own. He makes a good mother."

Daryl had a feeling he knew exactly what the man was getting at and was slightly glad that Michonne had left when she did. Rick would not appreciate his secret getting out to even more people.

"At least, one would think he would." Pete sighed. "Did you know--"

"Listen, I know exactly what you're talking about right now, so this conversation isn't necessary."

"And you are letting your omega kill the pup inside of him?"

The hunter snarled at the man. "It's his decision. What he does or does not do is none of your business."

"I think it is. I am the doctor of Alexandria."

"Then focus on your fucking patient and not an omega who isn't even here right now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated. They really motivate me to continue my works. :)


	15. Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The color of blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Rick was furious when he found Enid's scent coming from the Anderson's house. Realistically, he knew that he shouldn't be that mad. Pete was the one person best equipped to save the pup's life right now, but he didn't like that he wasn't there with her. Daryl obviously was, but the omega felt like he had to as well.

It wasn't like he thought Daryl would allow anything bad to happen while they were there, but Rick would have felt a hell of a lot more comfortable if he was there to. Then, he could be sure.

Daryl's normal scent of pine, smoke, and honeysuckles were tinged with anger, but there were no sounds of violence. Rick should have expected that though; Enid wasn't exactly the type of person Pete targeted. Naturally, that didn't stop the omega from being concerned about the young alpha. Pete was a bad man, and sometimes, there was no telling what a bad man is truly capable of. Rick all but marched straight towards the doctor's house, ignoring Carl pulling at his arm.

"Dad, you should really get cleaned up first." He gestured to his bloody arms, shirt, and pants. Most of the blood wasn't his, but in his haste to make it back to Alexandria, he had re-opened some of the wounds he had been trying desperately to ignore. Carl spoke up again. "There is nothing you can do to change the outcome of this."

"But I should be near her, Carl." Rick knew his son would never understand like other omegas would.

Carl raised an eyebrow. "She is not pack."

"That doesn't mean that she deserves no help."

"Daryl is helping her as best as he can." The alpha son decided not to mention the doctor.

Rick shook his head. "Daryl has never been the most comforting person in the world."

"Am I getting another sister or something?"

Ice shot through Rick, coming to a rest where that god-forsaken parasite lay. Did he know? "What makes you say that?"

"You aren't usually this involved in other people's children." Carl replied simply. "I don't see Olivia around here right now, and she even lives with Enid."

Just as quickly as the ice came, it left. He didn't know anything; he was still talking about Enid. "I don't see how caring about her is a problem."

"I never said it was." He shrugged. "Just curious."

Rick hummed slightly, not moving from his spot in front of the house. He knew that he didn't have the medical expertise to help Enid if she needed it, but that didn't mean that he had to leave her. Granted, if she woke up, she might not appreciate him being covered in blood, but what if something happened in the time it would take him to rid himself of it?

"Come on, Dad. It won't even take that long." Carl knew that his instincts as an omega were playing a role in making him stay there, but he too doubted that Enid would like to wake to all that blood.

Eventually, Rick acquiesced, but he was clearly doing everything on speed-run. Michonne had been kind enough to set out a clean pair of clothes for the omega, no doubt having expected him to act in such a way. He was out of the shower in just a few minutes, completely ignoring the luxury of warm water that they had access to. It wasn't important to him at this time. And after that, he was off once more in the direction of the Anderson household.

He knocked on the door rapidly and was almost immediately answered by a tired, distressed Jessie. The beta woman let him in instantly and guided him towards his pack alpha. She too seemed wary of Pete. The both of them hesitated before crossing the threshold of the room. That man, that disgusting specimen of an alpha was working on Enid. She was unconscious and would not be able to defend herself if he tried something. Rick didn't think that he would, but that didn't stop the idea from concerning him.

Pete looked up as he smelled the approaching omega. "Rick!" He paused his work to give his best smile to him.

Daryl growled from where he sat. "There is a patient for you to work on." Clearly, he was not worried only about his ignorance of Enid's condition but also about how comfortable he seemed around the pack omega. For some reason, Pete didn't see Rick as a threat, probably due to pre-existing prejudice against omegas.

The doctor didn't acknowledge the opposing alpha but looked back down at Enid anyway. He had been working on promoting blood flow as well as cauterizing the open blood vessels and stitching her arm closed. The doctor had worked quickly, so he should be ready to wrap the wound soon.

As soon as that was finished with, Rick spoke up. "Enid will not be staying here."

Pete's mouth opened as though he were shocked to be challenged by an omega. "She should really be monitored..."

"That would require you to actually pay attention to her, dick." Daryl spoke up from the background. "Your focus has been shitty."

"The omega was the one to come in here."

"And what do I have to do with your lack of focus?"

"Your scent....it's distracting." And intoxicating, Pete felt, especially since he was expecting. Pregnancy always added a lovely milky smell to mother's scent.

Rick didn't respond to that at all, instead choosing to approach Enid and inspect her bandages.

Daryl, however, thought differently. "That's fucked."

"I cannot control whose scent I find appealing." He spoke plainly and in front of his own wife, who just looked uncomfortable and out of place.

"Well, Pete, you would do well to stay away from Rick." The hunter snarled at him. "We'll be watching you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated! They really motivate me a lot.

**Author's Note:**

> Suggestions and comments are welcome and appreciated!


End file.
